You’re maltreating our brother -Afoko’s relations to police investigator

Detective Chief Inspector Augustine Nkrumah has been accused of subjecting Mr. Gregory Afoko, one of the suspects standing trial for the murder of Adams Mahama, the former Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to various forms of inhumane treatment.

According to the family, the policeman for three weeks has refused to allow both relations and lawyer of the accused person access to him and keeps tossing them from one security establishment to the other.

They revealed that a source at the BNI informed them the same Detective Nkrumah who brought the suspect into BNI custody is wondering why Detective Nkrumah has been obstructing the family from seeing Mr. Gregory Afoko despite his knowledge on BNI protocols in granting access to families of suspects in their custody.

In attempting to see him, they were given a run around, sending them to BNI regional office at 37, who in turn sent the family members to BNI Headquarters, who referred them back to Nkrumah at police Headquarters. This finally ended when BNI told the family that it was only the police who could ask that access is granted. Nkrumah finally took the family members to BNI but did not allow the family to even see or speak to Gregory Afoko.

“He has been tossing us around. The BNI specifically told us they were just a holding facility and had no interest in the case when we demanded for an explanation as to why we were being treated that way. Even after succumbing to pressure to grant them access to Gregory, he did not allow the family to even see or speak to him. Despite the fact Gregory did not have enough clothes because they refused to allow him pack his belongings at Nsawam Prison, we tried handing over a new set of clothes to him, but the same Nkrumah extracted only one boxer shorts, one vest, one pair of trousers and two shirts from the quantity we brought for the accused and asked the family to take the rest away a development we are really unhappy about”, they disclosed.

They suspect the investigator was up to something since he is on record to have been the one who went to Nsawam Prison to convey the clothing of the suspect only to come with a pair of trousers, a pair of shoes, singlet, a boxer shorts and cartons of water which he handed over to the family and claimed that was what he had.

“We know for a fact Gregory Afoko had a lot of clothes at Nsawam but all have disappeared except the ones Detective Nkrumah brought claiming they are the only ones he got from the Nsawam maximum prison”, the family lamented.

Relations of the suspect who are shocked by the conduct of Detective Chief Inspector Augustine Nkrumah wondered if that was the way the police discharge their duties in respect of suspects or he was being remote-controlled by some superior powers just because it was Gregory Afoko.

“He needs to discharge his duties professionally and not subject our brother to such a psychological trauma three weeks after he was literally dragged out of remand prison in Nsawam only in his boxer shorts and brought to Accra with the involvement of Mr. Nkrumah”, they observed.

“This is a travesty of justice for our son and brother who aside from suffering for the past 4 years, is going through trauma just because some people in authority have already convicted him even before the courts give their verdict”, they observed.

It would be recalled that the Attorney General on Monday January 28, 2019 filed a “nolle prosequi”, which is a decline of interest in the case and later rearrested the suspect to be charged alongside one Asabke Alangde but he has been denied access both to his lawyers and family members.