Nigerian businessman Benedict Peters, widely known as Ben Peters, has reportedly been arrested in Ghana following a joint security operation by Ghana’s National Security, the Ghana Police Service, and the Ghana Armed Forces.
The arrest, which occurred on Monday, April 7, 2025, involved Ben Peters and approximately 25 unidentified individuals. They were allegedly apprehended for blocking access to an apartment complex near Jubilee House, the seat of Ghana’s presidency, and for the unauthorized use of a police siren on one of Peters’ vehicles.
This incident is not the first time the Nigerian billionaire businessman has made headlines in Ghana. During the administration of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Ben Peters, who is believed to have close ties with the Akufo-Addo family, was implicated in multiple corruption scandals.
Ben Peters is the owner of Frontiers Healthcare Services Limited, the company contracted to handle COVID-19 testing at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) during the pandemic. In 2022, current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, alleged that Peters made a staggering GH¢984.7 million (US$130 million) from the COVID-19 testing exercise in just 18 months, while the Ghana Airport Company reportedly made only US$8 million.
In 2023, Peters’ name reemerged in the infamous “Heaven Scandal,” also exposed by Ablakwa, who is the Member of Parliament for North Tongu. According to him, 62.14 acres of airport land, previously valued at over US$6.3 million per 1.7 acres in 2019, were sold to Heaven Builders Limited, a company owned by Peters, at just US$1.3 per 1.7 acres. Ablakwa alleged the deal was facilitated due to Peters’ friendship with Edward Akufo-Addo, also known as “Bumpty,” the younger brother of former President Akufo-Addo.
Beyond these controversies, Ben Peters is known to have vast assets in oil and gas as well as mining industries across Africa. He is the founder and CEO of Aiteo, reputed to be Africa’s largest indigenous oil producer, and Bravura Holdings, a vertically integrated mining company engaged in the development of platinum, lithium, steel, copper, and gold assets across the continent.
