Expert crimes investigators, who have taken keen interest to review, count by count, the litany of chilling allegations made against former LURD General Ofori Diah, Cllr. Bobby Livingstone and Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus by Ellen Kwame Corkrum about their alleged involvements in ritualistic killings for jobs, have made a number of observations.
In a leaked audio containing the voice of the Solicitor-General, Ellen Kwame Corkrum is suggesting the transfer of US$4,000.00 (four thousand United States dollars) through the Solicitors-General, intended for Ofori Diah, but does not say for what purpose.
The Solicitor-General’s response does not give to what seems bait into a net; instead, he is concerned about whether the alleged crisis between Corkrum and Ofori Diah cannot be resolved, and she openly admits that it is resolvable.
Apparently frustrated by what seemed her difficulty in getting what she wanted to hear, or how she intended to mend fences with Ofori, she jumps at how Ofori Diah has said that the Solicitor-General, Bobby Livingstone, Minister Nathaniel F. McGill and President Weah are involved in the sacrifice of virgin girls with the aid of one Ciafa Watara or Hadallah, said to be the juju-man from neighboring Guinea.
These allegations, according to the Hot Pepper’s crimes investigator, who listened to the audio, were strongly rejected by the Solicitor-General, who asked Corkrum to give him the telephone number of the juju-man, promising to investigate, and thereafter the conversation ended.
But in an Okay FM Talkshow, hosted by Julius Jeh on September 6, 2021, Corkrum claimed she vehemently rejected the idea of a human sacrifice after Ofori Diah and the Solicitor-General told her that it would require four heads of virgin girls for a lady and three heads of virgin girls for a man, and therefore settled for an animal sacrifice (cow).
The former Liberia Airport Authority boss claimed that if she did not do the virgin girls’ sacrifice she would be required to do a 77-cow sacrifice, and each of the cows will cost between US$800—US$1,000, and for this sacrifice she sent US$4,000.
Analyzing the cost of 77 cows at either US$1,000 or US$800 against the US$4,000, allegedly sent to do the sacrifice, presents more questions than answers.
The investigation being conducted by the Hot Pepper shows that the US$4,000 allegedly spent by Corkrum is not even half of the aggregate sum of 77 cows at US$1,000 or US$800, and yet Corkrum insists that her statements are nothing but the truth.
Judging from her own statement, it means Corkrum either paid for four cows at US$1,000 or five cows at US$800, leaving the balance of 73 or 72 cows, but she still claimed that the US$4,000 was used to purchase the 77 cows that were being sold at US$1,000 or US$800.
Mathematically, it is impossible to use US$4,000 to purchase 77 cows that are sold at US$1,000 or US$800; therefore, the puzzle of Corkrum claiming that she spent US$4,000 to purchase 77 cows to do the sacrifice remains unsolved.
Another puzzle in this 77-cow sacrifice during the OK FM talk show is that Ellen failed to say where, how and when the sacrifice was done, or to whom the money was specifically transferred, and did not produce any document to prove this.
Strangely however, the Hot Pepper’s investigation also found that, at the commencement of the leaked audio, the same Corkrum who claimed to have sent US$4,000 is again heard suggesting the transfer of US$4,000 through Cllr. Cephus because she did not trust Ofori who requested it for ritual purposes, but the Solicitor-General did not give in to the suggestion.
Further analysis of the leaked audio shows that Ellen is suggesting that Ofori Diah needs the US$4,000 to perform a sacrifice for her, which means the sacrifice has not yet been performed up to present, and including the August 28, 2021 recorded audio by Corkrum.
It is not known whether it is the same US$4,000 that she suggested to send through Cllr. Cephus that was used for the 77-cow sacrifice that she alleged to have performed or this was another US$4,000.
Also analyzing her statement on Okay FM, Corkrum said for a male sacrifice it would require three virgin girls, and indicated that the Solicitor-General, who was an Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Agriculture, did the sacrifice of the first three virgin girls and became Solicitor-General, and another three virgin girls to aspire to become Minister of Justice.
She further added that Cllr. Livingstone sacrificed three virgin girls to aspire to become Solicitor-General, and since for a male it would require three virgin girls it means Minister McGill and President George Weah also sacrificed three virgin girls each, bringing the total number of virgin girls that have been sacrificed to 15.
Some challenges encountered by the expert crime investigators in these allegations is that Corkrum did not give dates and times of the disappearances of these virgin girls, or the names of their parents, which communities, if any in Liberia, they were taken from and where exactly these sacrifices were performed.
However, a source within the Liberia National Police (LNP), when contacted, expressed shock and dismay, and described the information as unreliable and aimless.
“We did not have any reports of the missing virgin girls, and nobody parents or communities have come forth to tell us about the disappearances of virgin girls,” the LNP source stated.
A further review of the Corkrum statement on Truth FM shows a vast contrast between what she said on Okay FM and the leaked audio, with two additional names: Hassan and Kadi, whom she claimed were involved in the ritual mentioned.
Appearing on Sky FM’s 50-50 talkshow on Thursday, September 9, 2021, Ofori Diah, one of the accused, quashed the allegations against him, noting that he is not aware of what Corkrum was talking about. He claimed that he, Corkrum and his wife established a company by selling a 10-karat diamond. According to him, some Sierra Leoneans brought the diamond to his wife, who informed him about it and subsequently purchased it. He said the diamond was taken abroad by Corkrum, who sold it and sent money to them to establish a company.
While on 50-50, Diah displayed a number of documents to corroborate his statements, noting that all the money sent to him by Corkrum was toward the company and not anything ritualistic. He stated that he and Corkrum began to fall apart when she told him to put one of the company’s truck in her mother’s name, which he vehemently refused and maintained that the company was established through the money earned from the sale of his diamond, and Corkrum could not dictate that the company’s properties be in her mother’s name.
He argued that Corkrum is very good at secretly recording conversations; therefore, he challenged her to provide the secret recording between them concerning going to the witch-doctor.
Also, another accused, Cllr. Bobby Livingstone has contended that he has neither had any conversation nor discussion regarding any subject with Ellen Corkrum, least to conceive that they went to a length to talk about Juju, describing her allegations as a “pathological lie from the belly of the devil with whom a character such as Ellen may be associated with”.
He contended that he has not, and will not, thread a path to pursue juju, and that it was “a figment of imagination for such nonsense to be attributed to me by a fraudster such as Ellen under the aegis of speculation and hearsay linked to Ofori Diah”. He admitted meeting and interacting with Ofori once or twice on a court matter. “I have a faint recollection of his look and have no acquaintance or friendship with him,” Cllr. Livingstone maintained.
Even though the Hot Pepper is yet to conclude its investigation, Corkrum’s allegations seem difficult to believe, especially without direct evidence linking the accused to her allegations. There are a number of call recordings, but none of them points to anything substantial that they were discussing ritualistic matters, except for the part that she accused Ofori Diah, which Cllr. Cephus said he knew nothing about and needed to call Diah to get his side of the story. However, the investigation did not exonerate anyone because it is yet to be concluded.
Meanwhile, the Hot Pepper is still exerting effort in getting first-hand chronicles from Cllr. Cephus, as he is yet to speak directly to the accusations. Investigation continues.