Dead Or Alive: Nation Awaits Appearance Of Castro, Janet.

The search may be over and hopes may have faded but the common desire of the music fraternity in Ghana remains unwavering – to see Castro, dead or alive!

The popular hiplife artiste, together with a lady companion, Janet Bandu, has gone missing for two weeks now, after a cruise on the Volta River estuary in Ada.

Castro, also known as Theophilus Tagoe, had accompanied his pal and Black Stars captain, Asamoah Gyan, and other friends for a weekend entertainment rendezvous at the Peace Holiday Resort at Ada Foah but he plunged them into a state of grief and sorrow.

The hiplife musician was a close friend of Asamoah Gyan, having featured the three-time World Cup star on some of his hit songs in a relationship that had blossomed to the admiration of many football and music fans.

But fate sought to separate the two friends when Castro, on that fateful Sunday, July 6, 2014, abandoned the ‘Baby Jet’ at the resort for a Jet Ski watercraft to cruise on the Volta River estuary and went missing thereafter.

Since then, it has been a moment of misery for family, friends and fans; a tale of mystery yet to be unravelled; an opportunity for spiritual postulation by religious leaders; a field day for rumour mongers, and a relentless search for the bodies of Castro and Janet, dead or alive.

The search

The Marine Police, the Ghana Air Force and local fishermen have been on a frantic ‘search and rescue’ mission at various times on the Volta River estuary and surrounding water bodies since the incident was reported.

After 10 days of search without positive results, the Marine Police officially brought their water patrols to a close last Wednesday, leaving the rest to fate and the vigilance of fishermen and communities along the water bodies.

But the search for Castro in the minds and hearts of his fans is not over yet, as they continue to pour messages of love and pay glowing tribute to his memory.

Many of them are still hopeful that the hiplife musician is still alive, as one of them, Owusu Betty, expressed in an outpour of emotional and flowery messages posted on Castro’s Facebook wall which bear the name “Castro Undafyre”.

“Castro is still alive, believe ur own but don’t try to get me mad. I say he is alive n he is alive, both of them are alive. After what is being done for them, the people behind this will bring them out themselves,” Betty posted on July 15, 2014.

Another fan, Derby Jaidy Prince, also posted on Castro’s Facebook wall on July 13, 2014 thus: “It’s already a week!” Same time last week I got the news. I still can’t believe you are missing. Castro Undafyre your heart is too pure for this! I know God is with you”.

However, there are many people who, unlike Betty and Derby, have given up hope on the hiplife artiste; they believe Castro has strolled to the other world, albeit at the displeasure of his fans.

When a dead body was reportedly washed ashore at the Sakumono Beach a few days back, they might have proclaimed the popular mantra: “I told you so!” But Castro had not appeared yet.

Raphael Sowah may be branded heartless by many a Castro fan, given his July 15, 2014 post on the musician’s Facebook wall.

“Hahahaha! Sorry to burst the hope bubble. I just can't help it. The guy is dead. And there's absolutely no way he's coming back to life except he'll be coming back in a body bag as a disfigured corpse,” he said.

Career & the conspiracy theory

Castro is a very fascinating character in the Ghanaian music industry.
After lurking in the shadows of hiplife musicians as back vocalist and rapper, including 4X4’s hit album Sikilitele, he announced his presence in showbiz with a big bang with his maiden album damages, and subsequently pulling the trigger with his hit album Toffee.

With his simple and catchy showbiz name, hot and tantalising sound beat that moves the earth beneath one’s feat, lyrics warmed with love messages, and a voice that fluctuates beautifully in pitch, the Takoradi-born rapper became a show stopper as he captivated his audiences at various music events.

He grew bigger and better, and his subsequent collaborations with Asamoah Gyan established him as a major brand in the local music industry.

But Castro’s meteoric rise to fame is said to be the reason for his fate in a conspiracy theory that suggests that some ‘rivals’ in the local music showbiz are the masterminds of his disappearance, either physically or spiritually.

The music industry in Ghana is said to be characterised by ‘juju-making’ and ‘rivals’ allegedly seek to get rid of one another in the Malcom X’s style – by any means necessary.

One of Betty’s posts on Castro’s Facebook wall on July 16, 2014, lends credence to the conspiracy theory: “Bring Castro n Janet back, we need to learn to be happy for others instead of destroying them n their success. God is watching ur every move n he will avenge if u hurt them. Just let them go says my God”.

“You need to bring him out sooner or later cos u can't go put them in water now. You know ur self so set them free. God makes people famous not man n u can't kill a person cos of their success in life. Do the right thing n set them free pls,” she posted another message addressed to unnamed characters but whose identity she seems to have under wraps.

Superstition and spirituality

The circumstances under which Castro and Janet got missing and the fact that their bodies have not been found two weeks afterward, has sparked some superstitious remarks from the general public.

Some people have brandished Janet as an agent of ‘maame water’ (the goddess of the sea), who has lured and snatched Castro to the spiritual underworld.

But after Janet’s identity had been established and her family dismissed such accusation, the superstition flag was lowered.

Nonetheless, the whereabout of Castro and Janet still remains a mysterious and confounding story to the uninitiated in the spiritual realm.

But for those with deep spiritual insight, it is not a strange story, as some spiritualists and pastors made various claims on the fate of the two missing persons.

A woman purporting to be a marine spirit had caused a stir when she hopped from one radio station to the other claiming that Castro was alive.

The ‘marine spirit’, who identified herself as Dzifa Avaga, said “Castro had gone for a visit and was not dead as earlier reported”.

But unlike Dzifa Avaga, an Nsawam-based spiritualist, Mallam Djeta, did not only claim Castro was alive; he had carried his guts to the Volta River estuary at Ada Foah with a mission to invoke the powers of the spirits for the appearance of the hiplife star, as his family, friends and fans monitored with bated breath.

Mallam Djeta, who had chartered a taxi from Nsawam to Ada Foah, could not accomplish that mission to the disappointment of close associates of the missing duo and keen observers.

But his contemporaries, a group of spiritualists also based in Nsawam, led by the President of the Ghana Psychic and Traditional Healers Association, Torgbi Adenyo, had embarked on a different mission on the fate of Castro with positive outcome.

After undertaking some spiritual consultations in the presence of the Daily Graphic, one of the spiritualists was emphatic that Castro was alive.

According to them, they could not do anything about the situation unless the family of Castro and Janet had come forward for the necessary rites to be performed.

But in what could be described as a spiritual rebuttal, an associate pastor of the New International Church, Ghana, Pastor Raymond Akoetey, urged the families of Castro and Janet to refrain from consulting mallams and spiritualists in the bid to rescue Castro because the only one to rescue him was God.

“We will not predict whether they will appear within the twenty-four hours or three days, but we will pray, believing God that they come back alive,” he said, as the church embarked on an intercessory prayer in a bid to rescue the perishing.

The humour

These are moments of sorrow and emotions for the families, friends and fans of Castro and Janet; but that notwithstanding, a lot of humour has been generated around their mysterious disappearance.

The incident had occurred after the Black Stars had returned from Brazil following their elimination from the World Cup tournament in a campaign characterised by players’ demand for appearance fee before donning the national jersey.

So knowing very well that the Black Stars captain had pocketed a cool $100,000 appearance fee, some people in jest on social media had asked Asamoah Gyan to pay appearance fee before his pal, Castro, will appear.

Others also joked that Castro had only been summoned to the spiritual underworld to entertain ‘maame water’ and her agents.

There were those who also blamed the whole incident on Ghana Football Association President Kwesi Nyantakyi and Black Stars coach, Kwesi Appiah.

Their reason?: If the two Kwesis had ensured the progress of the Black Stars at the World Cup, Asamoah Gyan would not have returned home early to organise a weekend getaway with friends to let Castro loose on the Volta River estuary.

But the emotions and humour, notwithstanding, what Ghanaians are unanimously yearning for now is the appearance of Castro, dead or alive.

And when that happens, there may not be any big enough arena for people to catch a glimpse of his showcase, dead or alive.