James Nana Womba
One of the suspects being held in connection with the gruesome murder of Prof. Emmanuel Yaw Benneh, a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, James Nana Womba, who was in custody, died at the Police Hospital in Accra on Saturday.
According to police sources, Womba, a cleaner in Prof. Benneh’s Adjiringanor mansion in Accra, had been sick for a while and was put on oxygen at the intensive care unit of the hospital but died after some time.
Womba, during interrogations, according to the Director General of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS), COP Ken Yeboah, had admitted taking part in the gruesome murder and mentioned others as being involved.
His ‘information’ led to the arrest of a 25-year-old man Ebenezer Kwayisi at Kwamoso, near Koforidua in the Eastern Region, on Wednesday morning by a team of detectives from the CID the GPS.
COP Yeboah confirmed the arrest of the suspect to DAILY GUIDE yesterday, saying, “He is currently in the police custody assisting with our investigations.”
Earlier Press Briefing
Early in the month, the CID boss briefed the media about the case and said Womba, a cleaner in Prof. Benneh’s Adjiringanor mansion had “confessed” to the police that he, together with others, killed Prof. Benneh over GH¢450 and two mobile phones.
According to him, the motive behind the attack was to rob the professor but since he resisted, they used an iron rod to hit him several times after which they tied and gagged him until he died.
The lead suspect, according to the CID boss, had told them that they then robbed him of GH¢450, his two mobile phones and a central processing unit (CPU).
The CID boss added that four persons were initially arrested to assist in investigations and after a series of interrogations, the police ‘narrowed’ their investigation on Womba, the 29-year-old cleaner of the late professor.
“Based on forensic evidence gathered from the crime scene, James Nana Womba was subjected to further interrogation and he broke down and confessed that he masterminded the murder of the professor,” the CID boss disclosed.
He also explained that initially Womba mentioned the names of some accomplices but the suspect made another confession that he committed the crime with someone else.
Narrating how the crime was committed to the media, COP Yeboah said Womba told the police that he “duplicated” keys to the rooms of the Law professor, and that was what they used in gaining access to his bedroom that night while he was asleep.
He said the motive of the suspects was to rob the Law professor but since he was uncooperative, they used the iron rod to hit him, after which they tied and gagged him until he died.
COP Yeboah assured that the police were following up on the leads given by Womba to get the said accomplice arrested.
Womba was arrested on September 13, 2020 after the body of the Law don was found in a pool of blood in his house on September 12, 2020.
The suspect later confessed to the offence during investigations and even mentioned the name of one Opambuor Agya Badu Nkansah, a resident of Ashaiman, and two others who are currently at large run as his accomplices.
However, suspects— Isaac Botchwey, 41, houseboy; Christian Pobee, 32, cleaner; and Adams Mensah Mansur, 52, a gardener (all workers in the mansion)—who were arrested together with Womba were later discharged by a court after the prosecution had pushed that their investigations did not appear to link the three to the gruesome murder.
Prof. Benneh was found dead in his house on September 12, 2020 and preliminary police report indicated that was killed about two or more days before the body was discovered.
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.
Police reports show that the deceased had marks of assault on his body with a rag stuck in his mouth.
The body was in a state of decomposition when it was found and has been deposited at the Police Hospital for preservation and autopsy.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey