Bismark Donkor and Bismark Abanga were the only two persons who were acquitted by an Accra High for their alleged involvements in the killing of the late Major Maxwell Mahama at Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region.

The two men were among the 14 suspects whom an Accra High Court tried for their alleged involvement in the gruesome killing of the late army officer, who was on official duty in the area in 2017.

However, after a seven-year trial, the court acquitted and discharged Donkor and Abanga while sentencing the other 12 to life imprisonment.

In an interview with Accra-based Starr FM, Donkor and Abanga recounted how they were arrested by military men at different times and locations and how they suffered in detention for a crime they did not commit.

Bismark Donkor said he was arrested at midnight in his house after the incident at Denkyira Obuasi by a team of seven military officers who stormed the place with guns.

"I was arrested in Denkyira Obuasi at midnight. When the soldier was killed, many people ran away from the town. I didn't see the need to go anywhere because I knew nothing about the crime.

"About seven soldiers came to my house at the said time. To be frank with you, what they took me through, I can only leave that to God.

"... They beat me up when they arrested me because I was in my bedroom, and when they knocked on the door, I didn't open up. They kicked down the door, entered the room and met me in my boxers. For evidence's sake, I have kept the boxer shorts for the last seven years. Though the killing was wrong, I can't understand why I was subjected to such treatment because I was innocent," he said.

Bismarck Abanga, on the other hand, stated that he was arrested four months after the killing of late Maj. Mahama.

According to him, he was at home when the police CID visited him and informed him that he was one of the suspects in the killing of the late army man.

"A police CID called Samuel Agyakwa was the one who came to my house to arrest me, and that was four months after the incident.

"September 14, 2017, around noon, I was in my house with my wife and one-year-old child. Then, the CID came home. He asked one of my children where I was, and she came to call me. I am an electrician, so when he came, I thought he had come for my services, but he said he had been asked to bring me to Accra for the murder of Captain Mahama. On May 29, when the murder took place, I heard [an] unusual noise coming from outside, and I asked my wife if she had any idea what was happening.

"... She said she had heard some gunshots, so I took my shirt to go outside and find out what had happened, but she asked me not to. I sat back and decided to continue repairing a TV. One of my apprentices, who had sneaked out to the scene, came back to inform me that an armed robber had been lynched. I asked him where it happened, and he mentioned the location. I went there and found the deceased in a very sorry state. I couldn't stand the sight of the blood, so I returned," he stated.

Bismark Abanga added that at the police station, he was shown footage of the lynching and asked to point out himself.

But he said he did not see himself in any of the images and insisted he was not there.

Regardless, he was also transferred to Accra to be part of the trial as a suspect.

"I was arrested and taken to the Diaso Police Station, and I was shown a video. He told me to alert him if I identify myself in the video. He played the entire tape, but I didn't see myself. He later played it again, but this time in slow motion and asked if I could identify the people. The truth is, I am a foreigner in that community. I only came there to farm my cocoa and opened my electronics shop. I said everything I knew, but the CID told me he is bringing me to Accra regardless," he added.

NW/AE

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