Court demands AG's explanation for prolonged detention of disputed Bawku chief

The High Court has directed the Attorney-General to submit a formal report explaining why Alhaji Seidu Abagre has been kept in state custody since Christmas Eve 2025.

The order was made in open court during the hearing of a habeas corpus application filed by Abagre’s lawyers, who insist their client is being held in violation of his constitutional rights.

The court has given the Attorney-General until 21 January 2026 to file a written justification for the continued detention. The case has been adjourned to 26 January for further hearing.

Alhaji Seidu Abagre is a key figure in the long-running Bawku chieftaincy dispute. He was selected by the Nayiri, overlord of Mamprugu, and styled himself as Bawku Naba.

However, a mediation report led by Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II rejected his claim and affirmed Naaba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II as the legitimate Bawku Naba.

The report recommended that Abagre either leave Bawku and accept reassignment by the Nayiri or remain in the town purely as an ordinary resident.

Despite the mediation outcome, Abagre was allegedly arrested by personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces on 24 December 2025 and handed over to the National Investigations Bureau (NIB), where he has since been held.

His legal team argues that he has been detained without due process from that date, and that any subsequent court order authorising his continued detention was obtained without giving him a hearing.

They say this offends the 1992 Constitution and forms the basis of their habeas corpus application.

In its directions, the High Court referenced Section 2 of the Habeas Corpus Act, noting that it is empowered to require the custodian of a detainee to submit a written report setting out the legal and factual grounds for detention.

The judge indicated that the question of whether Abagre should be physically produced before the court will be considered after the Attorney-General’s report has been filed and examined.