Asamoah Gyan has said that sometimes he feels that it was the destiny of Castro to die at Ada, where the star musician went missing in July 2014.
He said he believed Castro’s life was lost forever, although he had not been declared officially dead.
In a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred interview with Deloris Frimpong Manso on the Delay Show, Gyan fought back widespread claims that he used Castro as a spiritual sacrifice to enhance his football career.
The Black Stars skipper, who is reported to earn over $200,000 dollars weekly, said Castro was not originally meant to travel with him and his friends to Ada for a weekend getaway.
He explained that every year, when he returns to Ghana at the end of the football season between June and July, he and his close friends travel to Akosombo for a weekend fun trip. He said they would go cruising on the Volta River using a yacht.
Gyan narrated that in 2014, however, they received information that the yatch at Akosombo had broken down, so they opted to go to the Aqua Safari Resort at Ada.
He said a week before he returned to Ghana from Europe, Castro, the man responsible for the hit songs Toffee and Bone Shaker, called him to rule himself out of the Ada trip.
Castro, Gyan said, had a crucial funeral at Kumasi would coincide with the date of the Ada trip, so he decided to opt out and attend the funeral of his friend’s father.
The footballer said a day before the trip (Thursday), Castro came to his house to inform him that he was leaving for the funeral at Kumasi, so they bid the musician farewell.
The next day (Friday), Gyan said he and his friends took off for the trip using the Tema Motorway.
He said while still on the motorway, they got a call from Castro, telling them that he had changed his mind and that he would be available for the trip.
The musician, he said, asked them to wait for him on the motorway and that he was on his way there from Accra.
The captain of the Black Stars told Deloris Frimpong Manso that they parked at a petrol filling station and waited, adding that his presence at the filling station drew a crowd to the place.
He said Castro later joined them and, together, they made for Ada, arriving there in the evening. He said they were told that the Aqua Safari resort had been fully booked, so they headed to another facility that was three minutes away. The footballer said he and his friends were tired, so they listened to live band music and retired to bed.
He said the next day( Saturday), he and his friends took a boat to Aqua Safari, where they hired some jet skis (ski boats).
He said Castro did not join them because he was still sleeping.
Gyan said of all his friends, he was the only one that had experience riding a Jet Ski, so he fired the machine powerfully towards the Ada estuary, with his friends following him. He said as he approached the estuary, he became scared, and fearing for his life, he turned the Jet Ski around, against the advice of his life guard for him to move forward.
He said he beckoned to his friends to also turn around, as he felt the location around the estuary was a dangerous place to cruise. Gyan said they returned to Aqua Safari and parked the jet skis although the time for which they paid to use it had not elapsed.
Shaken by his experience around the estuary, the footballer said he warned his friends not to ride towards the estuary. He said they all resolved that the next time they hired the Jet Skis, they would play safe by cruising along the bank of the river.
According to Gyan, Castro had woken up by the time they returned and when he learnt that the Black Stars captain and some of his friends had gone cruising on the river, he also tried to follow suit but was blocked by Gyan’s bodyguard.
He said they then returned to their hotel for more life band music, after which they retired to bed. The following day (Sunday), according to Gyan’s account of events, the friends proceeded to the Aqua Safari Resort via a boat. This time, they made sure to go with Castro, who missed the previous day’s ski boat cruise.
They arrived at the resort and again hired some Jet Skis and went cruising on the river.
He said his brother, Baffour, however, saw Castro return to the river bank to pick up a female friend, Janet Bandu.
He added Janet had earlier tried to join Castro on the jet ski but Baffour stopped her, so when the musician arrived at the bank the second time, he hurriedly picked Janet and they both sped off.
Gyan said because Castro knew that Baffour would try to stop him, he did not bother picking a life jacket for his female passenger.
Baffour, he said, desperately shouted at Castro to return and pick a life jacket for Janet, but the musician ignored him and sped towards the estuary. That, Gyan said, was the last time Baffour also saw Castro.
The Black Stars skipper said not long after, one of the operators of the jet ski came to complain that the period of time Castro’s jet ski that was hired had elapsed, but the machine had not been returned.
Gyan said he look around and saw the Castro’s footwear was lying on the ground, so he reckoned that the musician had not returned from his cruise. He then assured the operator that he would pay for the extra time and returned to the game.
The footballer said moments later, the white man who owned the fleet of jet skis called them and said Castro had taken too long to return and that was going to look for him using his personal jet ski.
He said the man returned 20 minutes later without any sign of Castro. According to him, the demeanor of the man was very discouraging, but he (Gyan) tried to look on the bright side and be optimistic.
He said another Ghanaian man who was a jet ski expert, took another machine and went in search of Castro.
The man, Gyan said, was joined by other experienced jet ski operators. He said 10 minutes later, the man returned with the jet ski Castro and Janet had used for the cruise, but without the two of them.
The man, he said, wore a sorrowful look on his face that was very depressing. Gyan said it was at that point that he knew a terrible disaster had occurred.
He said the man who found Castro’s jet ski told them that he found it in a very dangerous place on the estuary and that 19 years prior, a white man also got missing in the area and was never found. Gyan said after hearing that, he and his friends broke down crying.
The footballer narrated that further searches for Castro and his female friend on the river yielded no fruit, and so someone suggested that they consult a powerful native priest in a village near Ada.
He said they got on a boat and went to meet the priest and after paying a GHc100 consultation fee, the priest performed rituals and concluded that Castro was dead.
He said the priest told them that while Castro and Janet were cruising, Janet fell into the river and Castro tried to save her, but died with the lady in the effort.
Gyan said another priest his friends went to also told them a similar story. He said based on what he saw at Ada and what the two native doctors said, he was convinced that Castro’s life was lost.
He said he was tempted to believe that it was Castro’s destiny to die at Ada because the musician was not meant to have joined them for the trip in the first place.
He said it was at the last minute that the popular singer joined the entourage for the trip.
