JB Danquah murder trial: DSP Sarpong's 'brutality' forced me to admit guilt to IGP Dampare – Sexy don don

Daniel Asiedu, alias 'sexy don don,' the prime suspect in the murder in 2016 of a sitting Member of Parliament has mentioned the names of three popular police officers in his defence in open court.

The three officers include the current Inspector-General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kofi Sarpong and retired Superintendent of Police Effia Tenge.

He mentioned the three as having been present in the immediate aftermath of his arrest on accusation of having murdered the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker for Abuakwa North, Joseph Boakye Danquah on February 8, 2016

Asiedu, under cross-examination, said he was far from the scene of the murder narrating how he spent the evening at Agbogboloshie where he met with and had sex with a call girl.

According to him, a pimp linked with the call girl who engaged him, threatened him in his absence.

He decided to report the threat at the Accra Central police station, but he was advised to rather go through a superior of the pimp, one Adotey, to resolve the matter.

According to him, it was Adotey, who he later came to know was a police informant, who led him to the police station where he was arrested as a murder suspect.

He said his initial admission that he was contracted to murder the MP was under duress after DSP Sarpong violently attacked him in an engine room to make admissions before IGP Dampare and Effia Tenge.

Below are excerpts of his cross-examination:

A. I made up my mind to report the matter at the regional police station but on my way to pick an okada the rider told me not to because he knows Mawuko‘s superior who goes by the name Adotey and that he would lead me to Adotey to report the matter to him so that he would warn Mawuko.

When the okada took me to Adotey, he gave me a seat and I explained to him what happened and that was the first time I met Adotey who is an informant.

Adotey told me to exercise patience and that he would lead me to the regional police station to report the issue and that was the first time I went to the regional police station.

When we got to the police station Adotey asked me to wait by a police officer while he went to see the police commander. When he returned from seeing the police commander, he asked me to come with him to see the police commander so the two of us went to the police commander’s office.

Q. Tell this court what time was this?

A. We got to the police at about 5:25 am

Q. In your statement yesterday you mentioned Allotey and today you mentioned Adotey. Who are they?

A. The name I mentioned yesterday is not Allotey. His name is Adotey and he is an informant. They (officers) mentioned their name to me as Dampare, ASP Kofi Sarpong and the female was Effia Tenge.

I turned around and saw that Adotey had left the office and was standing outside. Officer Dampare gave me a seat in front of him and two other officers sat by each side of me.

Dampare took his phone out and decided to record me and he asked me ‘who sent you?’ and I asked what was going on. He continued to ask me if one NDC man called Sorogho and one short NDC man with an Ewe name.

When I was at the police station I saw on the TV that he had been arrested at his office and sent to the CID HQ. He has an Ewe name that I cannot pronounce.

ASP Sarpong took me to the engine room and took a machete out of a fridge and hit my head with it. I was bleeding and dazed. He told me to accept whatever Dampare was telling me or else I would be killed. I stood there for a while because at that moment I couldn’t think straight. I did not answer the questions he was asking me.

Q. When you were attacked with a machete by this gospel singer police officer and you felt dizzy and did not answer his questions, what happened after that?

A. He stood behind me and slapped me from both sides. At that moment I knelt down and begged him that whatever he said I have said and I shall do as he had asked me.

Q. Why did you kneel down to beg?

A. I have not died and resurrected before so I did not want to take any decision that he would regret. So, I agreed to do whatever he asked me hoping that I could explain and understand what they were asking from me.

He understood me and took me back to the office and sat me down. Dampare once again took out his phones and started filming me. He mentioned those two names and asked if they were the persons who sent me? and I said yes. I was kept there from morning till about 6 pm and I was moved to the BNI office at Kawukudi.

Presiding judge Lydia Osei Marfo adjourned the case to May 29 for the continuation of the witness testimony of Daniel Asiedu.

SARA