Sixteen Remanded In Atronie Murder Case

The Sunyani Magistrate's Court yesterday remanded 16 people from Atronie in custody for their alleged involvement in the murder of the Administrator of the Goaso Government Hospital, Mr Anthony Yeboah-Boateng, on Easter Sunday.

The accused persons, whose pleas were not taken, were in the dock on provisional charges of murder and causing damage. They will reappear in court on April 26, 2007.

A number of people besieged the premises of the court to catch a glimpse of the accused, apparently because of the wide interest in the case.

A police source which briefed the Daily Graphic named the accused persons as Douglas Afriyie, alias Boogie, Stephen Donkor, alias Kojo Ankoma, Kwabena Owusu, Kwasi Nyantakyi, Isaac Bio and Thomas Fordjour.

The rest are Samuel Adjei, Kwame Nsiah, Amarisanga Azuwuni, Emmanuel Kwarteng, Samuel Yaw Bempah, Kwasi Oppong, Kwabena Appiah, Eric Sefa, Jeremiah Sarpong and Isaac Amoo.

Mr Albert Zoogah, the Presiding Magistrate, directed that four of the accused persons — Afriyie, Donkor, Owusu and Nyantakyi — be kept in prison custody and the rest in police custody.

Arguing for the accused to be remanded, the prosecution said the case was still being investigated and so the accused persons being remanded would prevent them from interfering with investigations.

In another development, a police source told the Daily Graphic that the screening of the remaining suspects was going on and that more would be arraigned tomorrow.

In a related development, Goaso citizens in Kumasi have condemned the murder of Mr Yeboah-Boateng and urged the police to speed up investigations to ensure that the perpetrators faced justice.

A statement signed by their spokesperson, Rev David Gyanera-Acquah, described the act by the irate mob as “pure madness”, especially when the deceased did everything to prove his identity.

Story By Kwame Asare Boadu