The man accused of stealing American rapper Meek Mill’s mobile phone has been remanded in police custody.
The 33-year-old scrap dealer Nuhu Sule was hauled before an Accra Circuit Court on January 4, 2023.
He pleaded not guilty to a charge of stealing and is expected back in court on January 17, 2023.
Sule alias Ababaawa was arrested Friday, December 30, 2022, at his hideout in Accra.
The victim, Meek Mill, reported his phone stolen in Accra on December 29, 2022.
The award-winning US rapper Meek Mill is in Ghana for the first time and was the headline artiste for day one of last year’s Afro Nation Festival.
Shortly after the arrest of the suspect, the rapper backtracked on his claim that the phone was pickpocketed during the Afro Nation music festival.
He said it was possible he just dropped the phone while riding his bike.
I coulda dropped that phone on a dirt bike I don’t actually know for a fact somebody went in my pocket! I got it back that’s all I needed I don’t need anybody locked up for a phone.., I don’t even know what happened to it
— MeekMill (@MeekMill) December 31, 2022
Meek Mill is the first American artiste to feature on the Afro Nation Ghana Festival, which is his first major appearance in Africa, following years of talk about visiting Ghana.
Facts of the case
The facts before the court suggest the complainant in the case is Akwasi Agyeman, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), while the accused is Nuhu Sule, a scrap dealer who lives in Madina.
On December 29, last year, the complainant organised a musical programme at Independence Square, Accra, which hosted an American Rapper, Meek Mill as the performing artiste.
The prosecution said that at about 8:20 pm on the same day, the guest artiste, who was making his way through the heavy crowd onto the stage, had his phone stolen by the accused, who was among the crowd.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max mobile phone, according to prosecution, is valued at GH¢22,000.00.
According to the prosecution, the accused, after succeeding in stealing the mobile phone, left the scene.
The complainant reported the matter to the police on the same day and, upon police intelligence, tracked and traced the phone to the residence of the accused person in Madina.
He was subsequently arrested on December 30.