NPP Gang Up Against Cocaine Trial

Intelligence picked up by The Herald has it that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is plotting to prevent the wheel of justice from grounding fairly in the trial of Abubakar Nallah, Chief Executive Officer of Tudu Mighty Jets Football Club and nine officers of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) said to be well known activists of the NPP, who are facing cocaine-related charges.

In an effort to frustrate the trial, the NPP supporters are making it a point to besiege the Cocoa Affairs Court, under the disguise of being fans and supporters of the lesser known Tudu Mighty Jets Football club.

The nine other accused persons are Fatimatu Abdulai, Dennis Adutwum Gyimah, Yakubu Issaka, Timothy Aboloimpo and Peter Ansong. The rest are Mutawa Kilu Yahaya Iddi, Jerry John Kwesi Abbiw, Eric Darko Akuffo and Nana Zamsah Evrah.

They have all pleaded not guilty to abetment in the importation and exportation of narcotic drugs, and have been remanded into prison custody at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons.

Reports indicate that the accused are all former members of the Tertiary Students Confederacy of the NPP (TESCON). Last Friday, heavily armed Police personnel had to be called in to ensure law and order at the court and also for media personnel to work without hindrance.

They carried placards, some of which read: “Assasi Gyima, Prosecute or free us,” we are in a democracy, not a revolution” and “no evidence, no trial”.

There are suggestions that the judge might want to give an order to hear the case in camera with only the accused persons, their lawyers and the prosecution team in attendance.

Mr. Anthony Rexford Wiredu, Chief State Attorney who was part the botched trial of the Ya-Naa kiilers, during the proceedings, disclosed that the Attorney-General’s Department received the motion for bail from defence counsel on the evening of Thursday, September 15.

He said it had not yet responded to the motion for bail application, and that the Director of Public Prosecution took over the case on the morning of Friday, September 16, hence would need time to study the matter and file an appropriate response.

Mr James Agalga, counsel for Fatimatu Abdulai, complained to the court that the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) prevented counsel from interacting with their clients to sign affidavits for the motion for bail.

He prayed the court that they should be provided with unfettered access to their clients to undertake their duties.

Mr Ellis Owusu-Fordjour, counsel for Peter Ansong and Eric Darko Akuffo, who added his voice to his colleague’s sentiments, said that it was dangerous to send the accused persons to prison custody since that would compromise their safety because they had been involved in arresting drug dealers now serving jail terms.

He suggested that the accused persons be sent to various police cells in Accra, rather than sending them to Nsawam Medium Security Prison for remand.

Mr Kwame Akuffo, Counsel for Nana Zamsah Evrah, who associated himself with the arguments of his colleagues, said it would be dangerous to put the accused persons in the same prison with other drug dealers on trial.

He said some of the accused persons were witnesses in those cases on trial, therefore, it would not be wise for them to be in the same prison with them.

Mr Akuffo noted that the prosecution had intentionally delayed the trial.

Mr Eric Kyei Baffour, the trial judge, adjourned the case to October 5, to give the prosecution enough time to study and prepare.

He said the motion for bail application was served on the AG’s Department at a short notice and would need time to respond to defence counsel’s motion.

The facts of the case are that Abubakar Nallah, a.k.a Abu Sundoko, is owner of Tudu Mighty Jets Football Club while the rest are officials of NACOB at the headquarters in Accra.

Sometime in July this year, a suspected narcotic drug dealer, who had been on the wanted list in the US, was arrested at Dansoman in Accra, and during investigations, text messages from him were allegedly received from Fatimatu on his cell phone.

The text messages revealed that Fatimatu of the Procurement Unit of NACOB had been aiding the suspected drug dealer and others to import and export narcotic drugs through Kotoka International Airport.

Fatimatu was arrested and, during interrogations, admitted the offence, and mentioned some NACOB officials and personnel of other security agencies, including the accused persons, as accomplices who compromised their position, and allowed drug couriers safe passage after receiving various sums of money from them.