A former Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Benjamin Agordzo, who has been acquitted and discharged over an alleged coup plot has shared more harrowing experiences he endured during his detention by the National Investigations Bureau (NIB).
According to him, his human right was violated as the officials stripped him naked on the night of his arrest.
Mr Agordzo revealed he spent five days in the NIB custody but never ate any food he was giving because he didn’t trust them.
“I had to take off everything that I was wearing. They gave us some boxer shorts which were just dumped somewhere. I’m wondering whether they were even washed. I will say that the officers who handled me did their best.
“But that’s how they ought to act, and therefore they had to strip me and ensure that they collected everything from me. I was stripped naked and was not wearing anything. That night, my human rights were violated in several respects. You cannot treat me in that manner and just give me anything to wear,” he recounted in an interview on Accra-based Citi TV.
Despite this inhumane treatment, the former police officer said he slept very well at the NIB police cells because he knew he was innocent of the allegations.
“I slept very well at NIB, I slept with a very good conscience. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong and began to plan what to do next. My only worry was my family. I wasn’t comfortable, but I had a good conscience,” he stated.
However, he said he wonders why the NIB officers did not visit his home to embark on any search.
“You have arrested somebody who is alleged to have abetted the highest crime of the land, accused me of paying money to support an alleged coup. The worst-case scenario is you should go to my house, do a few checks, even to the bank, check my accounts, even to the extent that you could even freeze my accounts. They never did any of those things,” he recalled.
Mr Agordzo and nine others including the late CEO of Alajo-based Citadel Hospital, Dr. Mac Palm were arraigned in 2021 on counts of conspiracy to commit high treason and high treason.
However, an Accra High Court on January 24 acquitted Mr Agordzo and two others; Colonel Gameli and junior military officer, Corporal Seidu Abubakar.
The remaining six have been jailed for conspiracy to commit high treason, committing high treason and sentenced to death by hanging.
The six including three soldiers are; Donya Kafui, aka Ezor (a blacksmith), and Bright Alan Debrah Ofosu (a fleet manager), were found guilty of conspiracy to commit treason and treason, while Johannes Zikpi (a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces), was found guilty of conspiracy to commit high treason.
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