Killed! Prof. Emmanuel Yaw Benneh
A senior law lecturer of the University of Ghana, Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh, has been murdered in cold blood in his house at Adjiriganor, East Legon, in Accra.
The police are said to have found him lying in a pool of blood with his hands and legs tied together and with cuts on his body at a spot between his bedroom and living room on Saturday morning.
It is believed that the law professor was murdered about three days before the body was found, and the incident has thrown the whole of the premier university into a state of
mourning.
Swift Action
In a swift action, however, four persons have been arrested in connection with the gruesome murder of the professor.
The suspects are Christian Poner, 32, a cleaner of the deceased who hails from Agona Swedru; Isaac Botchwey, 41, a houseboy who hails from Gomoa Tarkwa; James Nana Womba, 26, a cleaner from Asante Mampong, and Mensah Mensur, 52, a gardener from Winneba.
DSP Effia Tenge, Public Relations Officer of Accra Regional Police Command, said the suspects were arrested from their hideouts in Accra and are assisting in investigations.
According to her, police received the report about the incident around 7:30 a.m. on Saturday.
She said crime scene detectives proceeded to the scene immediately and the body had since been deposited at the Police Hospital in Accra for autopsy while serious investigations had commenced.
Houseboy
When the body was discovered, Isaac Botchwey, the houseboy of the slain law professor whose expertise is in International Law, granted interviews to journalists claiming he spoke to his master at about 8 p.m. last Thursday, September 10.
The houseboy said he lived in Accra Central and his master usually called him whenever he needed his services anytime he (prof.) was at home. He said he called the late professor on Friday morning, but he did not respond so he thought his master had gone out that morning.
“The gardener came to work this morning (Saturday) and when he did not find any sign of him, he knocked at his door but there was no response,” the houseboy said.
He said the gardener then went to inform the professor’s sister, who lives a few metres from the house, about her brother’s disappearance.
Together with her, they got a carpenter to force the door opened and found Prof. Benneh dead with his hands and legs tied, lying in a pool of blood between his bedroom and living room.
He claimed the gardener has some of the keys to the main entrance to the house and he (houseboy) also has spare keys to the deceased’s room.
The room appeared a little disrupted, suggesting there was some level of struggle before he was murdered.
Interestingly, it does not appear there was any break into the mansion, making some to conclude that the assailant(s) may have been led into the room possibly by the deceased himself.
Also, the floor appeared to have been wiped but there were traces of blood left behind.
A man who gave his name as Kwame and claims to be a neighbour is said to have told the media that a truck came by to deliver some goods to the law professor and he even gave a helping hand in unloading them from the truck on Thursday night in the presence of the deceased.
Colleague’s Post
Dr. Poku Adusei, a colleague lecturer at the Faculty of Law posted on social media that the professor was “murdered” in the same fashion as the late Abuakwa North Member of Parliament, Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu.
“Folks, I had wanted not to be the breaker of such ominous news, but the calls are incessant. The world is damned evil; Prof. Yaw Benneh of Legon Law has been ‘murdered’ in JB-style in his Adjiringanor mansion. It appears to be an act perpetuated about three days ago, but it was just discovered this morning,” he posted on Saturday after the body had been discovered.
Prof’s Background
Prof. Benneh, who was a senior lecturer with the Faculty of Law at University of Ghana, Legon, has been lecturing at Ghana’s premier university for about 30 years, having retired and was currently on contract.
Some of the students who passed through his hands had said he was a guru in International Law and they used to ‘tease’ him with his own mantra, “Is International Law, Law?”
He concentrated on giving knowledge to students instead of going to court to practise his profession.
It is still unclear about his family but some sources are saying he was unlikely married at the time of his sudden death.
He loved to wear African prints and was said to have a phobia for suits as those in the legal profession do and was mostly seen in sandals.
He is said to have taught many of the top judges, including even some of the current crop of Supreme Court judges, as well as other prominent lawyers in the system.
He earned both his M. Litt and LL.M (International Law Option) from University of Cambridge in the United Kindgom.
Rich Experience
He held a postgraduate Certificate in International and Comparative Law from University of Leiden.
He earned his LL.B with Second Class Upper from University of Ghana. Mr. Benneh had enormous consulting experience and had published extensively.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey