Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dr. Benjamin Kwasi Agordzo has hogged news headlines since he was acquitted of treason charges on the matter of a thwarted coup plot.
He has since the judgment granted some interviews in which he has addressed some top public officials accusing them of complicity in his professional and legal travails over the years.
He has also served notice that unless he is adequately compensated, he will sue the government for damages; buttressing a point made earlier by his lawyer, Martin Kpebu.
Agordzo in his interviews has had cause to address two cabinet ministers – Attorney General Godfred Dame and Minister of Defense Dominic Nitiwul – and the current Inspector-General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, on separate issues.
I have Dominic Nitiwul on tape, he was behind my arrest
Agordzo claims that Nitiwul orchestrated his arrest and subsequent investigation leading to the treason trial.
Speaking in an interview on Joy News on January,25,2024, he asserted, “When I reconstructed the whole thing, I realized by the time the man said he was going to bring me to order, he had already initiated the investigations.
“And then I got to know that the Defence Intelligence was the one who started the investigations with the military people, including General Andoh and others, before submitting the whole thing to BNI,” he said.
Agordzo went on to directly implicate Nitiwul in the arrest process, stating, “So having reconstructed the scene, I can tell you that it was the Defence Minister Mr. Nitiwul, who initiated the whole arrest process.
“He can take me anywhere he wants, and I will prove to him that he was the one who did it. And I am saying this on record because I have it on my phone. Whatever he said is on the phone,” he alleged.
Agordzo berates Dame over Arab Spring and Wikipedia use
The Attorney General, during the trial of Dr Agordzo and 9 others, argued that the senior police officer was involved in a plot to unseat the government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo using violence.
However, according to ACP Agordzo, his reference to the Arab Spring, which was cited in court papers, was for the purpose of activism and not violence.
“Arab Spring or civil uprising and other things are democratic means of expressing dissent in every society. Today we espouse people like Martin Luther King and others, why are we espousing them?” he questioned.
He noted that the AG relied on one source to define Arab Spring instead of reading wide on the subject.
“When you go to the literature, go and google it anywhere. Be careful you don’t go to Wikipedia. Because when you go to Wikipedia, Wikipedia will give you some definition of rebellion, mutiny and other things…
“I proved to the prosecution in court that when they need the definition of issues, they should not go to Wikipedia because they came out with a definition from Wikipedia which I drew their attention to and they could not talk about it again,” he said in an interview.
IGP Dampare hasn’t shown any interest in my case
Dr. Agordzo revealed in an interview with Accra-based TV3 that during his five-year trial, he expected support from IGP Dampare, especially as he was in charge of police welfare at the time.
Agordzo made these remarks during an interview on Sunday, January 28, 2024.
However, according to Agordzo, IGP Dampare has not demonstrated any interest in his case, neither during his tenure overseeing police welfare nor in his current role as the head of the Ghana Police Service.
“Yes, because you asked me about my welfare at the time and he (Dampare) was in charge of welfare and I expected him to… today, he is IGP and when he became IGP, at least, he hasn’t shown any interest in my case.
“I will rather we reserve this particular topic for another day and I can assure you that if you that if you decided to give me a whole interview on police reforms, the current situation in Ghana, I’ll speak to it but for now.
“To just make a comment or two on it, I would rather not comment on the current situation,” 3news.com quoted him to have said during the interview.
ghanaweb.com
