The suspects
The police have said that they have preferred fresh charges against three ‘armed robbers’ who were connected to the murder of the NPP Member of Parliament for Mfantseman in the Central Region, Ekow Quansah Hayford.
The three namely Umar Sando, Jibor Ali, Sando Ali, all of Fulani extraction, are currently serving 20 years each for robbery, and police investigations is revealing that they were part of the gang that attacked the MP and his entourage on the night of October 9, last year, in the heat of the election.
Deadly Incident
The gruesome murder of the MP occurred on the Abeadze-Dominase-Duadzi-Mankessim road on the night of October 9, 2020, in the constituency in the Central Region, while the MP was returning from a campaign programme after filing his nomination to seek re-election hours earlier ahead of the December 7 General Election.
His wife, Ophelia, subsequently replaced the late MP and won the seat for the NPP.
Key Suspects
Initially, the police had arraigned Fred Tetteh, Abu Fulani, a phone repairer, Naziru Fadilu, aka SP, businessman; Alhassan Mahama Yahaya, aka Mystical Cloud, unemployed; Amadu Yakubu, mobile money agent; Haruna Osman, trader; Adam Alhassan, scrap dealer; and Fuseini Osman over the killing of the MP.
Yesterday, at a news conference, the Director-General in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), COP Isaac Ken Yeboah said the three convicts have now been charged for the murder of the MP and will be moved to prison to be tried once again.
The CID boss said the three had already been tried on the charge of the robbery they carried out on May 11, 2021 at about 2am on the Jacobu-Obuasi highway and were convicted after pleading guilty.
He said the three suspects were subsequently sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for robbery on June 18, 2021, adding that “Their ring leader, identified only as Mohammed, was killed in an ensuing shootout by the police and the robbers on that day.”
However, he said during their investigation, the suspects admitted having taken part in the attack and murder of the late Ekow Quansah Hayford, and claimed that the deceased Mohammed was their leader.
The investigation was taken over by the CID Headquarters and some suspects were initially arrested where the MP’s mobile phone was also retrieved.
The CID Boss said the police will now charge the three for the murder of the MP and will arraign them again before court.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey