Ghana drugs arrest girls 'set up'

The 16-year-old girls have been "provisionally charged" after they were arrested on July 2 at Accra airport as they attempted to board a British Airways flight to London.

Police identified the two as Yasemin Vatansever, the London-born daughter of immigrants from Cyprus, and Yatunde Diya, also a British citizen of Nigerian descent, said Mark Ewuntomah, a spokesman for the Ghana Narcotics Control Board (Nacob).

On Thursday night, Yasemin told Channel 4 News that they were tricked into carrying drugs to London.

Speaking by telephone from prison in Accra, she claimed: "There were basically two boys over here who gave us two bags, and told us to bring it (that) it was an empty bag. We never thought anything bad was inside ... and they told us to go to the UK and drop it off to some boy ... at the airport."

She continued: "The two boys gave us bags in Ghana to bring to London, to give to the boy in London. It was basically like a set up. They didn't tell us nothing, we didn't think nothing, 'cos basically we are innocent. We don't know nothing about this drugs and stuff, we don't know nothing."

The interview follows reports that they were recruited in London and may have been "pressurised" into carrying the drug.

Justice campaign group Fair Trials Abroad said it intended to take a keen interest in the case. The girls could reportedly receive jail terms of 10 years or longer.

Yasemin's sister, Shanel, 19, told The Times she was "worried sick". Speaking from a mother and baby unit in London where she gave birth a few days ago, she said: "She's normally a sensible girl and hearing all this surprises me. She's not a raver, she's a quiet girl."

A Foreign Office spokeswoman confirmed on Thursday night that they had appeared in court and been "provisionally charged".