The 7th Prosecution Witness, DSP Thomas Yaw Agbanyo, former Public Affairs Regional Officer at the Upper East Regional Police Headquarters has testified his account of events on the day Mr. Mahama Adams, (former NPP Upper East Regional chairman) was inflicted with substance alleged to be acid which led to his death.
The Prosecution Witness said that he knows the deceased, the widow to the deceased, Hajia Zenabou Adams, the deceased’s brother Tawfik Mutala, and the Accused person, Gregory Afoko.
According to the Witness, he got to know the deceased at Bolgatanga as the aide-camp of the former Vice President, the late Alhaji Aliu Mahama.
He added that anytime the former Vice President visited the region on campaign tours, he was there to cover proceedings as the Public Affairs Officer of the Upper East Regional Police.
DSP Agbanyo narrated that on 20th May, 2015, at about 5pm, he was in charge of four policemen on patrol in Bolgatanga township and its environs.
He added that at about 1:30 am on 21st May, 2015, he was on patrol with his team at Yikene, a suburb of Bolgatanga, when a vehicle approaching from Navrongo, stopped and the occupant introduced himself as Bombande, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) regional executive.
According to the Witness, the said Bombande told he and his team that someone had poured a substance suspected to be acid on the NPP Regional Chairman and that he had been rushed to the Bolgatanga General Hospital.
DSP Thomas Agbanyo said that he went with his team to the hospital and on their arrival, he saw the deceased lying at the Emergency Ward with a piece of cloth around his waist.
“The medical team were attending to him. There were burns on the upper part of his body and the skin there was peeling off”, he added.
According to the witness, he saw the brother of the deceased, Tawfik Mutala and the deceased’s wife at the hospital.
The Witness added that Tawfik said when he came to the hospital, the deceased had told him that when he closed from work and reached his house, the Accused and one Asobke, poured acid on him, and that if he died, they should be held culpable for his death.
Counsel for the Accused person raised an objection that the testimony of the witness was hearsay.
The objection was sustained and the Witness was asked to resume his testimony and limit himself to what he was told directly and what he had seen.
The witness said he informed the Regional Commander and the Regional Crime Officer on what had happened and left for the scene, the house of the deceased, with Tawfik Mutala and Hajia Adams at SSNIT Flats, Bolgatanga.
He narrated that at the scene, the headlights of the deceased’s car were on, the engine was running and the front door of the passenger seat was opened.
“Hajia Zenabou gave us a polythene bag containing the clothes the deceased was wearing at the time of the incident, soaked with a liquid substance, and a gallon containing a blacklist liquid, which I took as evidence and handed them over to the Regional Crime Officer, who also came to scene of the crime”, he added.
According to DSP Agbanyo, he together with the Regional Crime Officer tried to take pictures by opening the door of the car wider but the stench from car was so pungent and the heat was so much that they had to withdraw.
He said that they then moved to the house of the Accused to arrest the Accused, and when they got there, the Accused came out in boxer shorts and was asked to go in and dress properly.
The Witness added that the Accused was cautioned, arrested, and asked to lead them to the said Asabke’s house.
DSP Agbanyo narrated that in the car, the Accused asked, “why are you following this foolish man”?, referring to the deceased.
He added that the Accused went on to say that the deceased had a pistol which was not registered and he asked the Accused if he had made a report earlier.
According to the 7th Prosecution Witness, the Accused continued by saying “this group will remain and we will resist all attempts by Mahama Adams to obstruct Paul Afoko from carrying out his duties in Bolga, and we will show him when he attempts to stop us”.
The Witness added that he asked the Accused the name of the group and he replied that the name was ‘Friends of Afoko’, they were fifty in number and Asabke was their chairman.
The Witness ended his testimony saying that when they got to the said Asabke’s house, he was not home, so the Accused was taken to the Police station to remain in custody.
21st May, 2018 would be 3 years, since the death of Mahama Adams.
Source: GhanaJustice/F.Kyeremateng
