Narrow Escape – Episode 12

NARROW ESCAPE

Episode Twelve:

 

 

Captain Adjei: Through the pains I felt in my stomach, I requested to take my shower because the stench emanating from my body wasn’t pleasing for the nose. The DSP granted my request and even got me a new shirt to wear after my shower, the homicide detectives were ushered into the interrogation room and I was escorted there by the female officer as well. Over there, all my ten fingerprints were taken on a paper manually after which I was taken back to the cell again. My patience started to run out because I had been deprived of seeing my lawyer and that alone was driving me nuts, I had spent more than 48hours in police custody and I was not been arranged before the law court which was against the laws of the country and my human rights. After a lot of noise making and making them know I knew my human rights not just as a citizen but rather a senior rank military officer, the female officer took the telephone number of my lawyer and promised to call him so he comes to visit me but she pleaded with me that I shouldn’t let any officer know the favour she decided to do for me by phoning in my lawyer. Early the next day my lawyer paid me a visit with three different graphic papers in his hand, he told me it was through the graphic papers that made him get to know I was behind bars at the police CID headquarters so he came here to verify if indeed the news was true or not. From the beginning I thought my lawyer paying me a visit was through the lady officer efforts but after talking to my lawyer I realised she knew nothing about the presence of my lawyer over here, I spoke to my lawyer at length in the interrogation room and he also stressed on the fact that, I should have written my statement by myself and also I should have insisted for the statement to be read to me before I signed it as the officer wrote it for me. Our elders say there is no need crying over a spilt milk so my lawyer promised to get a copy of the statement so that he studies the case. He assured me that everything was going to be fine and that he was not going to relent until he gets me out from the improvised cell I was been held in. Going through the news papers that he brought that morning, my spirit was so bitter and in pain. In my hand is some copies of the news papers that were printed that day. You can imagine the pathetic headlines they used that day and how defaming it was to my personality and family, I was taken back to the cell as my lawyer left to get things arranged so I could be processed to court in no time for the court to pass a verdict whether I was going to be granted bail or I was going to be kept in custody until the homicide detectives and doctors autopsy report came out. Two days later I was sent to the high court and by then my mum and siblings had gotten to hear of my predicament so they also came to court that day, journalists across the length and breath of the country were all present when the armoured car that came to pick me at the police headquarters drove in. Funny enough the military wouldn’t allow the police to convey me to the high court so it was the military who took me to the court premises with police cars and motorcycles following suit. As we got to the court premises, the military police officers who came for me from the improvised police cell handed me over to the police as they took charge of me, I saw my mom standing under a tree with my younger siblings when I was been escorted into the courtroom and I was so devastated at her sight, my mom had lost drastic weight and you could see from her swollen eyes that she had not been sleeping and eating as well due to my current state. As I got to the courtroom I saw my wife comfortably seated on the front roll with some of her promiscuous friends seating next to her adorned in an all black dress and wearing a dark spectacle with a black scarf covering her hair and almost all her beautiful face. I was sent to the witness box immediately and the handcuffs was taken away from my hand, in no time the court clerk announced the entering of the judge and then the judge entered the courtroom with everyone rising to his or her feet as a form of respect. The judge saw down and motioned us to resume our seats, the court clerk immediately mentioned my case after which my lawyer stood up to introduce himself to the judge and a lady lawyer also spoke after my lawyer spoke that she was representing the state and she sat down after talking. The prosecutor stood up to read my statement and that was when I realised that, whatever I narrated to the police officer that night had been changed totally in the statement the prosecutor read. I screamed to register my displeasure about what I heard but the court clerk yelled at me to keep quite for I am before a judge. The judge then adjusted his lense on his nose and spoke to my lawyer to caution me if not, I will be charged with a contempt the next time I open my mouth whiles I had not been given permission to talk. My lawyer pleaded with the judge for mercy and he signalled me to compose myself well. The door to the courtroom opened and the CDS together with some senior rank officers walked into the courtroom, Colonel Amedekah Bugah was the last person who walked in with them and I could see joy and satisfaction all over his face as he saw me standing in the witness box. The judge asked the prosecutor if the autopsy report and other investigation reports were ready but he was told the reports were not in yet and that they needed more time to gather every relevant information concerning this case. The judge then looked at the calendar on his desk and picked a date for the next court day, all lawyers in front of the judge stood up as the judge spoke. He adjourned the case to six week time and ordered I am kept in police custody in a jurisdiction of where the crime happened. I saw the CDS approach the state lawyer and pointing his finger at me but that was the least of my problem, my wife and her friends had smiles displayed on their faces as one police officer placed back on my wrist the handcuffs, my mum couldn’t stand the sight of me being taken away and she started wallowing in tears as my younger sister consoled her and tried to stop her from causing a scene in the courtroom.

Kofi Ansah: Captain so please was your brother who was accused of having an affair with your wife present at the court also?

Captain Adjei: No he never stepped his feet in the courtroom or even the compound of the court. As I was brought out, the pressmen rushed to where I was standing to take pictures of me but the police officers around prevented them from doing so, I was put in a land rover car and whisked away like a thunderstorm, the armoured car that brought me to the court premises was no where to be found in the compound. I was taken to the police station which was close to my house and jurisdiction of the crime. I was thrown in the cell bunker by the cell commando when the police officer at the counter locked me in the cell.

Kofi Ansah: Ah did you say cell commando?

Captain Adjei: Yes my brother, in every cell in Ghana there is a cell leader and his cell commandos who serve as his bodyguards and if you mess with them, the way they will discipline you inside the cell, not even the police at the counter can save your a$$. I was thrown into the cell bunker and I know you will ask me what cell bunker is? That is where the toilet and shower is and stubborn people or people who can’t afford to pay their cell dues are kept.

Kofi Ansah: Ah you pay cell dues also when you are locked up? Who do you pay the cell dues to?

Captain Adjei: Yes you heard me right, that money(cell dues) goes to the cell leader and his commandos. They claim they use it to buy detergents to clean the cell and the rest is used to buy food for inmates who are not privileged to receive visitors or inmates whose people don’t know their whereabouts. My mum and siblings came to the police station but were not allowed to see me all because of the way they were crying. The officer on duty told them that, I had only been arrested and that I am not dead so if they can’t compose themselves well then they should go home or where they came from. The cell leader added his words that he was a good mourner than them so they should take their bad luck away. Beacuse I wasn’t allow to see them, I couldn’t take money from them to pay my “cell dues” so I had to stay in the bunker that night in the angry midst of the mosquitoes in there, as if that was not enough, there was a raid that night in a ghetto where a lot of hoodlums, weed smokers and pickpockets were arrested to the police station, all those guys were pushed into the cell bunker so now everyone had to stand and sleep because there was no space inside that place for anyone to lay his head or body down. After three days my lawyer came over to visit me and apologised for not coming around early, he explained that the day I was sent to court his house was broken into and his family were attacked so he had to be running up and down to the hospital and the police station in his area. He left some money behind at the counter for me to use if the need arose, he promised not to leave any stone unturned and that he was going to do everything in his capacity to get me out from where I was, he left after spending a little time with me and promised to get in touch with my family also. I paid my cell dues immediately my lawyer left with part of the money he left behind for me so that I could be given a little comfortable place to put my head at night in the cell. About an hour later the CDS and some senior rank officers came to the police station, first they went to see the commander of the police station and he ordered for me to be brought to his office. In the office I met the CDS and when he saw me he tried to attack me but he was held by the officers around. He bit his lips and swore heaven and earth that until he is no more on this earth, I will never taste what we call freedom on this planet earth for making him childless. I tried to explain myself but patience was a virtue which had eluded everyone in that office, he ordered for me to be taken away back to the cell and gave an order for me not to recieve any guest in that police station. I wasn’t surprise none of my junior officers came to see me because I knew Colonel Amedekah Bugah could have sent a warning to anyone who dares to come and visit me will face disciplinary actions. After the said six weeks I was taken back to court and the judgement came even though the autopsy report and other reports were not in, I know the CDS had used his office to influence that judgement and the judge claimed I and my lawyer could appeal the case if we were not satisfied with the judgement. I was slapped with a life imprisonment sentence but when I was taken to the prison and I went in for the appeal, the appeal court judges said I came to delay their time and also tried to deceive them with falsehood so my life imprisonment sentence was rather changed to death sentence.

Kofi Ansah: Hold your horses Captain for we have dived into a new phase of the story you are narrating. Let me run some short commercials for my sponsors. I will be right back guys so please stick and stay.

 

 

To be continued…

 

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