Man kills friend for GH¢12,000

Aminu Alhassan, a 28-year-old man being held by the Nima Police for the disappearance of his friend with whom he traveled to Techiman in the Brong-Ahafo Region, has finally confessed to killing Abass Saani and dispossessing him of an amount of GH¢12,000.

According to Superintendent Aduhene Banieh, Nima District Police Commander, in whose custody the suspect was being held, Aminu said he engaged the services of a certain man in Techiman, who provided him with a killer hammer for the murder.

With the hammer, he hit the head of his friend who felt dizzy and fell down, after which he used a cement block to smash his head, killing him instantly.

He told the police that he paid the man who provided him with the hammer an amount of GH¢500 from the money he took away from his dead friend.

The Techiman District Crime Officer was said to have confirmed that the remains of the deceased, Abass Saani, were found at the Techiman Market in a pool of blood under a shed in the morning of Friday June 15, 2012, by some market women and had since been deposited at a local morgue, as his identity was unknown at the time of the discovery.

Since the crime was committed in Techiman, the police from that town were expected to come for the suspect on Thursday for onward transfer to the town for further investigation and court action.

He had earlier refused to cooperate with the police, calling their bluff and asking them to do their worst. On Wednesday however, he had a change of heart, telling the security agents that he used a hammer and cement block to smash the head of 25-year-old Abass Saani, with whom he traveled to Techiman to buy gold.

Explaining further, he told the police that upon reaching Techiman around 12:30am on June 15, 2012, he realised that his friend had the said amount on him and decided to rob him of it. Having laid hands on the money in his friend's possession, Aminu returned to Accra and began altering his wardrobe and room in a spending spree.

He bought a 50-inch LCD TV, a set of home theatre, a gas stove, a double-door fridge, a gas cylinder and cooker, new dresses and an assortment of other items.

He was also said to be spreading gifts and other items to friends and family members. At the time, he was suspected to have used his friend for money rituals, known in local parlance as ‘Sakawa’.

Detective Sergeant Thomas Prempeh Merar, the investigator in charge of the case at Nima Police Station, also confirmed the turn of events.

The fateful journey began on June 14, 2012, with the two friends going to buy gold in Techiman. The suspect said when they arrived at the town, they decided to pass the night at the market.

While the two were resting in one of the sheds, suspect Aminu used the hammer to hit the head of his friend, following it with a cement block.

He then bolted with the money he had taken from his dead friend, leaving him in a pool of blood.

When the suspect was questioned by the deceased's relatives when he returned, he denied knowledge of his friend’s whereabouts.

The family however reported the matter to the Nima Police and the suspect was arrested on Tuesday morning and an amount of GH¢3.100 was retrieved from him.

The family of the deceased was yet to travel to Techiman to identify the body of their deceased relative.**