Story By: Juliet Akosua Danquah
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to thoroughly investigate the alleged murder of 18-year-old Ghanaian student, Nana Agyei Ahyia, in Latvia.
During a meeting with the bereaved family, the Minister disclosed that a fact-finding mission from Ghana’s Embassy in Germany, which is also accredited to Latvia, has been dispatched and has since submitted a preliminary report to the Ministry. Mr. Ablakwa said Latvian authorities have confirmed that investigations into the circumstances surrounding Nana Agyei Ahyia’s death are still ongoing.
He further informed the family of his intention to travel to Latvia to engage his Latvian counterpart and officials handling the case, noting that representatives of the victim’s family will be part of the delegation. The Minister also announced plans for the government to engage independent experts to review all investigative reports, including the final report expected from Latvian authorities, to help determine the appropriate next steps in the pursuit of justice.
Nana Agyei was a first-year Electrical Engineering student at Riga Technical University, having enrolled in July 2024. His life was tragically cut short on June 4, 2025, in what Latvian authorities initially reported as a fall from the sixth floor of his apartment building on Baznicas Street in Riga. However, the family has strongly disputed this account, citing a disturbing voice note Nana Agyei sent just three days prior to his death—in which he claimed to have been poisoned. “We received news that he fell from the sixth floor and died. But we said, no, that cannot be true. There’s no way he would commit suicide,” said Sarah Nimli, a family spokesperson. “I wrote letters to the Foreign Ministry, to the school, and contacted the police. But we realized the police were not responding and appeared to be covering up because the people involved were Latvian nationals.” Frustrated by the lack of transparency, the family dispatched a relative to Latvia to seek answers. The relative was later joined by a representative from the Ghanaian Embassy in Berlin, which has jurisdiction over Latvian affairs, to engage with local authorities.
