A Law lecturer Murdered In Cold Blood: Would this one too go unsolved?

Across Ghana, there are a number of unsolved murdered cases. They range from Yaa Naa Yakubu Andani, investigative journalist Ahmed Suale to Abuakwa North MP Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu.

The latest case involves Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh---a law lecturer at Ghana's premier university, Legon. The upsetting incident has since rocked the Legon community and its environs where it's understood the murder took place.

It's yet another high profile case to have hit the Accra Metropolitan Area within a period of four years.

Prof Benneh is said to have been murdered at his Adjiriganor residence in East Legon after his mutilated body was found on Saturday morning. In June this year, it's believed a cousin of Prof Benneh was also stabbed multiple times to death in Kumasi, Ghana's second-largest city. The unknown attacker is on the loose and the case like many remains unsolved.

Is it a coincidence?
Who is or are behind these two murders?
An eyewitness who discovered the slain academic says Prof Benneh’s legs and arms were tied as his body was found between his living room and bedroom in a pool of blood.

Suspects Arrested?
Meanwhile, the Greater Accra Regional Police Command say they've picked up four persons in connection with the suspected murder. The four who are supposedly being interrogated by the police are domestic workers at the deceased’s residence at Adjirigano in Accra.

Are they the right suspects?
We've seen and heard it before, they don't oft' turn out as expected. Effia Tenge Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Command, says the four “have come under suspicion” after the incident.

“The Police have picked up four persons who've come under suspicion in the murder of the law professor in his home at Adjiringano. They are currently being interrogated as part of police investigations. All these four persons are domestic workers of the deceased,” she the local media.

Would this one too go unsolved?
Some have lost hope in the police and intelligence agencies in the country. A good number of them have had their loved ones' cases either gone cold or unsolved.

On Tuesday 9 February 2016, JB Danquah-Adu was stabbed to death at his Shiashie residence in Accra. The doors to his house remained unbroken and windows unsmashed. Ironically, a ladder was found at the window to the legislator's bedroom, which presupposes that there was an inside job. A suspect was arrested and he's in jail but family members of the MP are still reeling in pain. Why? They haven't seen the finality of the case yet.

And it seems the assailant or assailants of Ahmed Suale are still on the run. If they're contract killers then the general public is at risk.

So how are the police going to treat Prof Benneh’s case? I hope this one wouldn't be a splash dash case. Instead, they'll leave no stone unturned in smoking out the murderer or murderers. In other words, they'll bring the perpetrators out to face justice. Meanwhile, the academic fraternity, family/ loved ones and friends including the general public are closely monitoring this one too.

Biography & background
Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh was a senior lecturer, Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana, Legon. He earned both his M.Litt and LL.M (International Law Option) from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

He holds a postgraduate Certificate in International and Comparative Law from the University of Leiden.

He earned his LL.B with Second Class Upper from the University of Ghana. He has enormous consulting experience and has published extensively.

JB's fashion
His colleague at the Faculty, Dr Poku Adusei who confirmed the death of professor Benneh said he was “murdered” in the same fashion as the late Abuakwa North Member of Parliament, Joseph Boakye Danquah-Adu.

“It appears to be an act perpetuated about three days ago [Thursday], but it was just discovered this morning,” he told Myjoyonline.com.

It remains a mystery how the bloody incident occurred because reports say there was no sign of a break-in or forced entry.

One Isaac Botchway who told journalists that he was the deceased’s houseboy claimed the last time he saw him was at about 8 pm on Thursday.

According to him, the murdered academic usually calls him whenever he needed him to do something on his behalf.

“I called him the next day [Friday], but he did not respond. The gardener came to work this morning [Saturday] and when he did not find any sign of him, he knocked at his door but there was no response,” the houseboy said.

Botchway added that the worried gardener informed the deceased’s sister who lives nearby from the Adjirgano mansion before they got a carpenter to force the door open and found Prof Benneh dead in a pool of blood between the bedroom and the living room with his hands and legs tied up.

Question is: How did the attacker (s) gain entry to the residence? I suspect the attackers must've had a key to the lecturer's residence. More work for the police to do. Isn't it?

There was a struggle between Prof Benneh and his assailant before they overpowered him, Botchway speculated, adding that there were spatters of blood on the floor and the walls which suggested a struggle.

Foul play
Prof Benneh’s family are reported to have suspected a foul play because his cousin, Anthony Konadu, 78, was also stabbed to death on June 13, this year by unknown assailants.

By Gordon Offin-Amaniampong