Two men have been charged with rape after a group of British schoolgirls and their teacher were attacked at gunpoint in Ghana.

The UK pupils were on a trip to the west African country when armed men broke into their accommodation on 8 December.

The teenagers and their teacher were sexually assaulted and had their possessions stolen, while a security guard who tried to stop the attack was shot and seriously injured.

Ghanaian police have now charged Ishmael Akyene, 34, and Daniel Akpan, 29, over the attack and are searching for a third suspect.

Akyene, a Ghanaian national, is accused of 14 counts of robbery, one count of rape, one count of conspiracy to rape, one count of possession of a firearm, one count of possession of an instrument intended for unlawful entry and one count of money laundering.


Akpan, a Nigerian national, faces the same charges but is accused of two counts of rape.

Both men have been remanded in custody in Ghana.

In its advice to British travellers, the Foreign Office says that while most visits to Ghana are trouble-free, crime does occur and can range from petty street crime to violent crime.

Around 90,000 Britons visit the coastal west African country every year.