TWO SUSPECTS ARRESTED FOR FALSE ALARM (Page 20)

12/03/2008

Story: Mary Mensah
Two men who allegedly raised a false alarm that led to the lynching of Terry Adjei, their own friend, near the St John’s Senior High School at Achimota have been arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
The suspects, Yaw Anane and Reggie Oppong, both aged 28, were arrested at their house at Tantra Hill near Achimota upon a tipoff.
According to the Director General of the CID, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Adu Poku, the suspects and Terry, a 29-year-old mechanic who lived at Dansoman, had been friends for quite sometime and were involved in a business deal.
He said on January 19, 2008, the deceased, who owned a Kawasaki motorbike with registration number ER 2897 U, was accompanied by another friend, Desmond Eze, a Nigerian, to the house of the suspects at Tantra Hill to collect his money from them.
Mr Adu Poku said the deceased had told his Nigerian friend that Yaw Anane had been indebted to him (Terry) since last year but he had been playing “hide and seek” with him.
The deceased, he said, further indicated that Yaw was planning to return to Canada where he was domiciled and so he (Terry) needed to collect his money before Yaw travelled.
The Director General said on reaching the house of the suspects at Tantra Hill, they found Yaw in the company of Reggie and other friends who are now at large.
He said a misunderstanding ensued between Terry and Yaw as a result of which Yaw and his friends attempted to attack the deceased and his Nigerian friend.
Sensing danger, the deceased pulled a gun and fired warning shots which scared his assailants , and the two managed to jump on the motorbike and sped off.
However, Yaw and his friends pursued them in an unregistered Infinity Saloon, shouting to draw the attention of onlookers that the two persons on the motorbike were armed robbers who had attacked them in an attempt to snatch the Infinity saloon car.
DCP Adu Poku said on reaching the St John Grammar Senior Secondary area, there was traffic on the road compounded by an articulated truck with registration number AS 726 F, that had been parked at the side of the road.
He said Yaw and his friends crashed into the Kawasaki motorbike and the deceased and his Nigerian friend were trapped under the stationary articulated truck.
DCP Adu Poku said at that time, the false alarm raised by suspects had attracted a large crowd to the scene, and they dragged the two from under the truck, lynched them with big stones, sticks and other offensive items.
He said the police arrived on the scene later and took the two victims to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where Terry was pronounced dead on arrival.
An autopsy conducted by Dr Ato Taylor of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital gave the cause of death as subarachoid haemorrhage and fractured skull.
The Nigerian friend of the deceased fell into coma with severe body and head injuries but later regained consciousness.
It was on regaining consciousness that he narrated what had transpired to the police.
The two suspects, Yaw and Reggie, were immediately arrested but they denied any knowledge of the incident and claimed that they did not know the deceased.
However, further investigations led to the discovery of pictures the deceased had taken with the suspects.
The Director General appealed to members of the public to desist from meting out instant justice on suspected criminals.
He said if they had arrested the two alleged armed robbers and handed them over to the police for investigations, an innocent person would have been saved.
The deceased has since been buried while investigations continue.