ACP Dr Benjamin Agordzor
The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has locked its attention on an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Dr. Benjamin Agordzor, over his alleged association with the suspected coup plotters, who are now safely locked up.
He was invited for quizzing soon upon his arrival last week from a UN mission to assist in the ongoing investigation into a coup plot over which Dr. Frederick Yao Mac-Palm and others have already been charged for treason.
Records of the superior officer’s dealings with the coup plotters, including alleged monetary contributions, are in the hands of the BNI.
DAILY GUIDE can confirm that the BNI would want to establish what informed his reason for supporting the political movement called Take Action Ghana (TAG) being championed by the coup plotters.
They might also want to know whether he knew his alleged contribution was helping them to enrich their arsenal preparatory for their planned coup.
According to sources, he was expected to report to work yesterday after his return from the UN mission.
DAILY GUIDE is unable to establish whether or not he did report to work as expected.
Dr. Agordzor was at the Police Educational Unit and was later appointed as Director in charge of Police Transformation Agenda under the immediate past Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. David Asante-Apeatu.
Dr. Agordzor’s radical ideas about politics and policing have earned him the admiration of some persons on the other side of the political aisle in the country.
His vociferousness on issues earned him headlines, one of them pointing at how, according to him, members of his family were scared for his life considering his stance on national issues.
Vigilantism
He is reported to have said that vigilantism has gained a foothold in the country because politicians interfered in the work of the police.
For him, the 1992 Constitution’s authorization to the President to choose heads of the security agencies does not inure to the interest of efficient policing, he said in one of his many treatises.
He said the foregone during a symposium organized by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) in Accra on October 31, 2018 to discuss vigilantism in the country. “If care is not taken, we will have rule of political parties instead of rule of law,” he said.
“If you thought that vigilante activities constitute a problem now, then wait until it truly explodes. I call it Ghana’s unexploded political ordinance,” he also said.
He is on record to have advocated an independent body to select the IGP instead of the current order where the constitution hands the president with such powers.
Apprehension
The man who loves the headlines before leaving for the UN mission said his family and friends were apprehensive that something negative could befall him considering his no-hold bar vociferousness.
“No superior officer of mine has called me or no minister has called me. It is rather family and friends who are calling me and expressing fear I could be victimized by those in authority but I am not bothered because the things I say are the truth,” he said in response to the expression of fear from his family members.
DAILY GUIDE can confirm though that just as he himself has disclosed, he has not suffered any form of victimization in the Police Service.
It will be interesting to find out how he reacts to his sessions with the BNI as they seek to establish the extent of his association with the Alajo Bomb Doctor and his group.
Citadel Hospital
The rather largely unknown Citadel Hospital at Alajo, Accra, made the headlines when the proprietor of the facility (Dr. Mac-Palm) was arrested by security personnel because an illegal Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) production line was found within the confines of the hospital.
Investigations led to the unearthing of other firearms both within the facility and elsewhere.
Some inputs of the IEDs such as surgical needles and others were acquired at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.
It eventually turned out that the suspects arrested in connection with the case, one of the serving Colonel in the Ghana Army, planned to overthrow the government. They have been charged for treason and have made initial appearances in court.
Key Suspects
The civilians who have been accused are Dr. Frederick Yao Mac-Palme, a doctor and the alleged mastermind behind the coup plot; Donya Kafui, aka Ezor, a local weapon manufacturer (blacksmith) from Alavanyo, and Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu, aka BB or ADC.
The military officers caught in the alleged coup plot included a senior officer, Col. Samuel Kojo Gameli; Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, Lance Corporal Sylvester Akapewu, Lance Corporal Seidu Abubakar and one WO II Esther Saan, aka Mama Gee, of the Military Academy and Training Schools (MATS), and also a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Force, Gershon Akpa.
By A.R. Gomda