The suspects being escorted by security personnel to the courtroom yesterday
Seven persons who allegedly orchestrated the gruesome murder of the two police officers in the Central Region have been remanded into custody by a Kaneshie District Court in Accra.
The accused persons? Eric Kojo Dua (believed to be the ring leader), Isaac Amissah, Ibrahim Zakaria, Isaac Mensa, Oblitey Commey, Victor Yire and Fatawu Ahmed? on August 28 allegedly shot and killed Sgt. Michael Dzamesi, a service driver, and L/Cpl. Awal Mohammed at a place called Big Apple, near Budumburam, Kasoa.
The deceased policemen were personnel of the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) detachment at Kasoa, and their deaths have sparked public outrage.
They were brought before court, presided over by Rosemond Doodua Agyiri.
They are facing a total of four counts of conspiracy, abetment and murder.
Given that the court does not have the jurisdiction to trial murder cases and only expected to do a pre-trial committal, the plea of the accused persons were not taken.
The facts of the case were also not read and the accused persons were not represented by any lawyer.
Police Request
The prosecution, led by ASP Sylvester Appiah, pleaded with the court to remand them into custody to enable the police to conduct further investigations into the case.
The presiding magistrate had earlier inquired from the prosecutor whether it was convenient for the police if she remanded the accused persons into prison custody at the Nsawam Medium Prison.
ASP Asare, however, told the court that remanding the accused persons into prison custody would not be convenient as the police have to be travelling to engage with them in the conduct of investigations, and there were inconveniences involved.
He subsequently urged the court to remand Eric Kojo Duah, Isaac Amissah and Ibrahim Zakaria in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) while the remaining four be remanded into police custody.
The presiding magistrate remanded the accused persons as requested by the prosecutor and adjourned the matter to September 26, 2019.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere at the Kaneshie District Court was one of shock, disbelief and anger when the accused persons were brought by heavily armed police officers.
The scores of people who gathered around to catch a glimpse of the accused persons were seen whispering among themselves as the accused persons descended from the police vehicle and were marched to the courtroom.
As the vehicle carrying the accused persons entered the court’s premises, the main gate was locked and was only opened when they were leaving the place.
The accused persons, all in their mid or late thirties, appeared sober as they walked in batches into the courtroom and back to the vehicle.
Revenge Mission
The two police officers were gruesomely shot dead on Wednesday by suspected armed robbers at a place called Big Apple near Budumburam, Kasoa, in the Central Region.
The chief architect of the gruesome murder, Eric Kojo Duah, was on the run after the incident and was later arrested on the Senchi Bridge on Saturday morning in the Eastern Region.
He was taken to the Akosombo Police Station after he had been arrested and he allegedly admitted to the murder of Sgt. Dzamesi.
He was reported to have said he killed Sgt. Dzamesi out of revenge for the death of his mother because he was convinced that the deceased was responsible for it.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak