Ekow Kwansah Hayford
The suspects picked up in connection with the gruesome killing of Ekow Kwansah Hayford, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Mfantseman in the Central Region, appear to have come from the Ashanti Region to commit the crime.
The fatal shooting was initially said to be connected to armed robbery, but sources say it is looking like a ‘hired job’ with ‘political undertones.’
The latest development is being vigorously pursued even as the robbery issue is also on the plate.
Last Saturday, another person suspected to be involved in the gruesome killing of the MP was arrested, bringing to six, the number of all-male suspects rounded up by the police since the high-profile murder in the Central Region over a week ago.
So far, three suspects have been picked up in Kumasi and another three in various parts of the Central Region, and the police have confirmed all the arrests.
DAILY GUIDE learnt that the police are not leaving anything to chance and have vowed to get to the bottom of the matter.
The MP was gruesomely shot and killed by persons suspected to be armed robbers on the Abeadze-Dominase-Duadzi-Mankessim road on the night of Thursday, October 9 while returning from a campaign programme after filing his nomination to seek re-election on the same day.
Positive Action
The security agencies are said to have separated the robbery aspect of the case to be handled by the Anti-Armed Robbery Unit while the Homicide Unit is looking into the murder incident.
It is being claimed that the suspects targeted the MP but appeared to have made things look like it was a robbery incident.
Unnumbered Taxi
When the incident occurred, those who were at the scene claimed the hoodlums used an unnumbered taxi for the daredevil operation, the occupants of which were fully armed and also said that more than six people were involved in the criminal operation.
They stopped and searched more than 10 vehicles on the often quiet Abeadze-Dominase-AbeadzeDuadzi–Mankessim road, portions of which are still under construction.
After the ‘operation’, the robbers escaped through the Abeadze-Dominase section of the road which leads to the Yamoransa Junction to Assin Fosu link on the Cape Coast-Kumasi highway.
The MP and his team were returning from their usual campaigns when the robbers stopped them—and calamity struck thereafter.
Warning Shots
Each robber was armed, some with pump action guns, and they were said to have fired several warning shots.
Before the NPP-branded Mitsubishi pick-up in which the MP sat got to the robbery scene, more than 10 cars, including cargo vehicles, some loaded with oranges and others with tomatoes, had been ordered to park haphazardly on the road and occupants made to lie face down by the hoodlums.
The robbers reportedly spoke impeccable Twi as they ordered every victim on sight to surrender his/her phone and cash.
Some of the robbers were in full masks while their leaders wore black face masks and had backpacks in which they kept their booties.
Monitoring Group
They divided themselves into three groups. The first group monitored the Mankessim entry point while the second took charge of the Abeadze-Dominase section, with the last group doing the search on the victims.
Those monitoring the Abeadze-Dominase section were the first to accost the MP’s car.
Curiously, it was only the MP who was shot and killed even though the robbers held many people captive.
Witnesses Account
One of the victims to be stopped, who gave his name as Michael Quansah, a driver of a cargo truck, said he was made to turn off his lights at gunpoint and all the occupants made to move up to where they had gathered all the victims, with one robber keeping watch over them.
“Anytime a vehicle got to the scene, they threatened to shoot if the driver did not heed their orders and as a result they deflated a lot of tyres of vehicles,” he said.
Motorbike Ride
The NPP Electoral Area Coordinator for Taabosom in the Mfantseman Constituency, Emmanuel Baidoo, said he rode his motorbike ahead of the MP’s vehicle and got to the scene before the lawmaker’s car got there.
“Midway, I saw one car in the middle of the road and another facing the bush, then a vehicle loaded with tomatoes crossing the whole road,” he narrated, adding, “As I moved forward, there was no way so I decided to turn and by the time I could finish two of the armed robbers appeared from behind and asked me to move to where the cars are parked.”
“As I got closer, the robbers handed me over to their colleague who was also armed and moved back to where they ordered me not to turn.”
MP’s Car
The MP’s car, he said, “Then got to where I was being ordered not to move an inch. Then the MP’s people asked why I stopped and told me to move because it was not safe. They then tried to manoeuvre past the cars that had been ordered to park and one of the robbers shouted, Yes! You the NPP guys, you are the ones we are looking for.”
He claimed that the robbers then started firing indiscriminately “and in the process they fired the driver and one of the tyres so the MP’s car could not move again.”
“They made me lie on the ground and seized my phone and cash so I was watching them from under the car and I could see they were struggling over there amid gunshots. I saw about six of the robbers and they were all fully armed and had backpacks.”
From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi