Prof. Yaw Benneh
James Nana Womba, a cleaner in the house of Prof. Emmanuel Yaw Benneh, a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, has allegedly ‘confessed’ his involvement in the gruesome murder of the Law Don.
The suspect, who was arrested on September 13, 2020 after the body of the deceased was found in a pool of blood, allegedly confessed to the police during investigations.
He allegedly told the police that he committed the gruesome murder together with Opambuor Agya Badu Nkansah, a resident of Ashaiman, and two others who are currently on the run.
Womba’s ‘confession’ led to the arrest of Badu Nkansah but the two others (yet to be named by the police) are at large.
The Law Don is suspected to have been killed about three days before his body was discovered at his Adjiringanor mansion at East Legon, Accra, on September 12.
It brought to five (5) the number of people arrested in connection with the murder of the late Prof. Benneh. The first four suspects were all workmen for the Law Don.
Court Discharge
Yesterday, three out of the first four who were arrested and put before a Kaneshie Magistrate Court in Accra and charged with murder were discharged by the court.
This was after the prosecution, led by Inspector Robert Teye-Okuffo, told the court presided over by Eleanor Barnes-Botchway, a Circuit Court judge sitting with additional responsibilities, that their investigations did not appear to link the three to the gruesome murder.
The three — Isaac Botchwey, 41, houseboy; Christian Pobee, 32, cleaner; and Adams Mensah Mansur, 52, a gardener — were subsequently discharged by the court.
It now leaves James Nana Womba, 26, cleaner, and Opambuor Agya Badu Nkansah, unemployed, as the main suspects in the murder of Prof. Benneh.
They are facing two counts of conspiracy to commit crime and murder. Their plea was not taken as the case was still at the committal stage and it is only the trial court that can take their plea.
Harrowing Fact
The brief fact of the case as presented by the prosecution led by Inspector Ebenezer Teye-Okuffo indicated that Prof. Benneh was found dead in his house on September 12, 2020.
He told the court that the police found the victim lying in a pool of blood with his hands and legs tied together on a corridor leading to his bedroom.
The court heard that the deceased had marks of assault on his body with a rag stuck in his mouth.
Inspector Teye-Okuffo also told the court that the body of the deceased was in a state of decomposition when it was found, and it had since been deposited at the Police Hospital for preservation and autopsy.
Cause of Death
He also told the court that an examination on the body of the deceased disclosed the cause of death as asphyxiation, strangulation and suspected homicide.
Remand
Womba and Badu Nkansah were subsequently remanded in police custody until October 14 whilst a bench warrant was issued for the arrest of two others who are allegedly involved in the murder.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak