The late Ekow Kwansah Hayford
Six persons arrested in connection with the gruesome murder of Ekow Kwansah Hayford, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Mfantseman in the Central Region, have been remanded into police custody by an Accra Circuit Court.
The six have been accused of robbing the MP and his campaign team at gunpoint and killing him in the process.
The suspects include Alhassan Abubakar aka Abu Fulani, phone repairer; Naziru Fadilu aka SP, businessman; Alhassan Mahama Yahaya aka Mystical Cloud, unemployed; AmaduYakubu, mobile money agent; Haruna Osman, trader, Adam Alhassan, scrap dealer; and another suspect only identified as Mohamed, who is currently at large.
They all pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy and robbery.
The killing occurred on the Abeadze-Dominase-Duadzi-Mankessim road on the night of Thursday, October 9, 2020 while the MP was returning from a campaign programme after filing his nomination to seek re-election hours earlier.
Bail Plea
Kingsley Amoakwah, counsel for Naziru Fadilu, prayed the court to grant his client bail while awaiting trial.
He said the accused person is a businessman and has a fixed place of abode which is known to the police.
George Asameni, who represented Alhassan Mahama Yahaya, Amadu Yakubu, Haruna Osman and Adam Alhassan, also prayed the court to grant them bail.
He told the court that the facts of the case only stated that his clients were arrested in connection with the robbery without specifically stating what role they might have played in the alleged robbery.
He added that the accused persons were not flight risk, stressing that they will not do not anything to interfere with the investigation of the matter and would readily avail themselves for the trial.
Opposition
The prosecution led by Chief Inspector Seth Frimpong opposed the applications for bail stating that the police have reached a crucial stage in the investigation and were dealing with sensitive information and need the accused persons in custody to help with investigations.
He prayed the court to remand the accused persons to help the police get to the bottom of the case and bring out the full facts.
Remand
The court presided over by Evelyn Asamoah in her ruling refused the grant of bail on ground of the facts of the case, the nature of the matter and the fact that the police were still investigating the matter.
She remanded the accused persons into police custody to reappear on October 30, 2020.
Brief Facts
The brief facts of the case as presented by Chief Inspector Frimpong are that on October 9, 2020 at about 1:00am, police had information that armed robbers had barricaded a section of the road between Abeaze-Dominase and Duadze on the Mankesim-Assin Fosu highway, robbing commuters of their mobile phones, moneys and other valuables.
He said on receipt of the information, police quickly mobilised and proceeded to the scene and narrowly missed the robbers.
He told the court that at the scene, the police saw a number of vehicles parked on the road, with some of the victims who had sustained various degrees of gunshot wounds with one dead.
“The body was later identified as the Member of Parliament for Mfantseman Constituency, Ekow Quansah Hayford. Two of the victims were seriously injured. One Patrick Asante, a Kia truck driver, and Uncle Issah, the late MP’s driver,” the court heard.
The prosecutor continued that police cleared the road to traffic and conveyed the victims to Winneba and Cape Coast hospitals for medical attention while the body of the slain MP was also deposited at the Saltpond mortuary pending autopsy.
He said investigations revealed that the late MP filed his nominations form on the October 8, 2020 for re-election and decided to visit four communities in the Taabosom Electoral Area, namely Effutakwa, Opim, Takoradi and Duadze.
After having visited the communities with his campaign team members, namely Yaw Berchie, Nuako, Frederick@ Wofa Yaw, Stephen Atteh Allan, Frank Asiedu @ Okokroko, Emmanuel W. Bandoo and the driver, Uncle Issah, were on their way back to Mankessim.
At about 1:00am, the team bumped into a gang of armed robbers who blocked the road between Abeaze-Dominase and Duadze robbing motorist of their moneys and valuables.
The MP arrived with his campaign team on board a Mitsuibitsi pick-up branded in NPP colours.
Chief Inspector Frimpong continued that the robbers immediately fired gunshots into the vehicle, bursting the tyres as the vehicle suddenly stopped after running into a ditch.
He said, “The robbers surrounded them and demanded for all their valuables. The robbers pointed a gun at Stephen Allan and asked whether he was the MP, he said no. The MP himself owned up so they pounced on him and collected his Samsung Galaxy 850 mobile phone and demanded money. The late MP told the robbers that he had used up all his money as he was returning from campaign tour. He, therefore, pleaded with them to take him to his house to give them money but they refused and shot him killing him instantly.”
He said police tracked the mobile phone of the deceased to Kumasi and arrested Naziru Fadilu at Aboabo in Kumasi who was in possession of the deceased’s mobile phone.
He said Naziru mentioned Alhassan Abubakar as the person who sold the phone to him at GH¢780.
He stated that Naziru led the police to Akwatia Line where Abubakar was also arrested.
He said Abubakar also mentioned Mohammed who is on the run as the one who sold the phone to him at GH¢680.
He said the other three were all arrested in connection with the robbery and murder of the late MP.
Chief Inspector Frimpong added that efforts under way to arrest Mohammed and the remaining suspects who are on the run.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak