Six people, including three policemen, who secretly buried a suspect that died in police custody, have been remanded by a circuit court in Sunyani in the Bono Region.
The incident occurred at Seikwa Police Station in the Tain District between April 16 and 17.
The three policemen, who are already on interdiction, are General Constable Ebenezer Akuffo, 24; General Corporal William Akussung, 28; and Chief Inspector Eric Aforo, 48, while their civilian counterparts were identified as Aaron Abbey, 22; Rueben Obeng, 21, both security and Emmanuel Kingsford Ofori, the 59-year-old banker who had reported the deceased, Abu Nepah, 48, to the police.
Preliminary Charges
They were charged with abetment and murder and were remanded into custody by the court presided over by His Honour Arnold Joojo Hagan until May 11 for the police to continue with their investigation into the matter.
The policemen with the help of the civilians allegedly arrested Abu Nepah and sent him to the Seikwa Police Station and by the next day the suspect had died but the accused persons buried him secretly without informing his family.
However, when the family got to know about the incident, the accused persons quickly exhumed the body and deposited it at the morgue as if nothing happened.
Case Facts
The facts as presented by Supt Joseph Apaloo are that the deceased was a farmer and lived at Seikwa near Berekum, while Abbey and Obeng are security guards with Reliable Protection Service, a private security company in Sunyani.
It said Ofori is a banker and the branch manager for Nkoranman Rural, Seikwa, whilst the policemen stationed at Seikwa with Aforo being the station officer.
On April 16 at about 6:00pm, Abbey, Obeng and Ofori arrested Abu Nepah to Seikwa Police Station and Ofori filed complaint that Abu Nepah had caused damage to the rear windscreen of his Toyota Highlander vehicle with registration No. AS 2000 X.
Abu Nepah in the course of his arrest by the civilians allegedly resisted but was subjected to beatings before he was handed to the police.
At the police station, Abu Nepah was received by Akuffo and handcuffed to a metal bar of the window behind the counter.
Behaving Violently
“The suspect reportedly started behaving violently and in the process the handcuff got removed from his hand. The noise attracted Akussung who lives in the barracks and he went to the charge office and with the assistance of Abbey, Obeng and Akuffo, the suspect was overpowered and handcuffed to a pillar in the compound at the police station.”
Aforo later visited the station and was informed of the incident by Akuffo and he allegedly directed that the suspect should be kept there overnight.
The suspect was allegedly beaten again at the police station by Abbey, Obeng, Ofori, Akuffo and Akussung and the next day Aforo noticed that the suspect had defecated on himself and littered the premises with human excreta.
According to the facts, Aforo then instructed Akuffo and Akussung to release the suspect to clean the place, which they obliged, and at about 12:10pm same day, the suspect collapsed and was rushed to the Seikwa Health Centre by Akuffo and Akussung, but was pronounced clinically dead on arrival by the staff on duty.
Burying Body
Aforo, according to the facts, took the body and it was buried at the public cemetery at Seikwa same day on grounds that, the deceased was a pauper and his relatives were not immediately known.
On April 18, after realising that they had breached procedures and sensing danger, the policemen exhumed the body and it was deposited at Best Care Mortuary, Mantukwa-Sunyani.
The police facts said on April 21, the case was transferred to the Regional CID, Sunyani, for continuation and the accused persons were arrested on April 26.
According to the facts, during interrogation, Abbey and Obeng admitted having slapped the suspect turned deceased a number of times.
Akuffo also admitted having used a small cane to hit his hand and Ofori indicated that he tried to slap him at the police station but could not reach him because the deceased was behind the counter.
Akussung and Aforo however, denied any involvement in the alleged torture.
Pathologist’s Verbal Report
The court heard that on April 25, an autopsy was conducted on the body of the deceased person by Dr. Ernest K Adjei, a senior specialist pathologist from Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, and the expert gave the verbal cause of death as chest injury, blunt trauma to the chest and concluded that the manner of death is unnatural.
Pix saved as Seikwa in 2021
CAPTION: Seikwa police secretly buried suspect and later went and exhumed the body and were caught on camera