The late Asamponhene, Nana Kwadwo Aforduo
SADAT MOHAMMED aka ‘Alhaji’ or ‘Mallam’, the prime suspect in the murder of Otumfuo’s Asamponhene, Oheneba Kwadwo Aforduo, is in the grip of the police in Kumasi.
He was apprehended in Burkina Faso following collaboration between police from Kumasi and security agents (Interpol) in Burkina Faso on Monday. He was eventually brought to the Ashanti Regional Police Command in Kumasi at dawn yesterday.
Already, his partner, Nana Yaa Asantewaa Bonsu, who happens to be the Pakyi Number One Queenmother in the Ashanti Region, has been nabbed in connection with the gruesome murder of the chief.
The queenmother, whose name was not initially mentioned among the suspects of the heinous crime, surprisingly, also vamoosed following the murder of the chief.
Queenmother Hospitalised
The queenmother is currently on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital under police guard after she fell ill whilst in custody following her arrest on Tuesday.
A police source, however, denied that the queenmother collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, saying “she just fell seriously ill and we sent her to the hospital for treatment.”
Alhaji, who is said to be a friend of the late Asamponhene, vanished into thin air immediately it was announced that Oheneba Kwadwo Aforduo had been cruelly murdered at Ebuom, near Ejura in the Ashanti Region, on August 18.
The queenmother was also not seen after the murder and her sudden disappearance gave the police a clue that she might be privy to the death of the chief.
Alhaji Wanted
Alhaji was said to be the last person that the late Asamponhene had visited on the morning of August 18, 2019, the exact day that the chief was killed.
The chief was found dead in his black Land Cruiser vehicle at Ebuom on the Ejura-Nkoranza highway. The car was nearly burnt by his killers.
After preliminary investigations, police became convinced that Alhaji might have masterminded the murder of the chief so they declared him wanted during a press briefing.
Burkina Arrest
From reports, the police had intelligence that the suspect would certainly flee through Ghana’s northern neighbour, Burkina Faso, to either Mali or Benin, where he also visits sometimes.
The police in Kumasi, therefore, liaised with their counterparts in Burkina Faso and they managed to first arrest the queenmother at a different location in Burkina Faso.
Nana Yaa Asantewaa Bonsu was sent to Kumasi on Monday and Alhaji was later on arrested at a different location in Burkina Faso and sent to Kumasi on Wednesday dawn.
Press Conference
In a related development, reports making rounds indicate that it is likely the Ashanti Regional Police Command will organize a press conference today and state the findings of their investigations so far.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi