Adams Mahama ‘killers’ remanded

Gregory Afoko and Asabke Alangdi, who have been accused of murdering the Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Adams Mahama, have been remanded into the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) by an Accra Magistrate Court.

The two were hauled before the court yesterday on two counts of conspiracy and murder of former NPP executive, who died as a result of severe burns from acid which was allegedly poured on him by the accused persons.

Asabke was recently arrested in neighbouring Ivory Coast by Interpol, but Afoko, junior brother of former NPP National Chairman, Paul Afoko, has been facing trial since 2015.

The two accused persons appeared before the court for committal proceedings to determine whether they should be arraigned before a superior court.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Afua Sackey, remanded the accused persons until February 12, 2019.

Afoko was discharged last Monday but re-arrested after the Attorney General’s Department entered Nolle Prosequi owing to the arrest of Asabke.

Facts of the case

The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Maxwell Oppong, told the court that Adams Mahama on May 20, 2015 stopped his vehicle at the entrance of his house at about 11pm when Afoko and Asabke signaled him to roll down the vehicle’s window.

He said as soon as the late NPP chairman rolled down the window, the two men poured acid on his head, face and body and fled on a motorbike.

Adams Mahama reportedly shouted for help and his wife, Hajia Zeinabu Adams, who is the complainant in the matter, came to his rescue.

“She assisted the deceased out of the vehicle and in the process she herself also sustained burns on her body including her breast and chest. Hajia Zeinabu Adams enquired from the deceased what had happened and the deceased told her that the two accused persons had poured acid on him,” Chief Inspector Oppong told the court.

The prosecutor stated that Adams Mahama was later rushed to Bolgatanga Regional Hospital by the wife and two neighbours, who also heard the shouts of the deceased and the wife.

“Adams Mahama also mentioned the names of the two accused persons to the said neighours as those who poured the acid on him. The deceased, however, died the following morning at about 8:30am while on admission at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital,” the court heard.

He said the police later recovered a gallon containing acid, plastic cup used in pouring the acid and clothes the deceased was wearing at the time of the attack.

Chief Inspector Maxwell Oppong told the court that all the items, including a tracksuit belonging to Afoko, which he allegedly wore on the night of the attack, were forwarded to the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) for testing and it proved that they all contained sulphuric acid.

He added that further investigations are ongoing to establish the role each accused person played in the murder of the late Mr. Mahama.