ACP/Dr. Benjamin Agordzo
Tell-tale
WhatsApp chats among the alleged coup plotters are making clearer the depth of
collaboration that existed between ACP/Dr. Benjamin Agordzo and the Alajo
Proprietor of the Citadel Hospital, Accra, Dr. Frederick Yao Mac-Palm.
Investigators
of the alleged coup plot in which ACP/Dr. Agordzo has been implicated are said
to be in possession of about a dozen-page WhatsApp communications between the
superior police officer and the alleged plotters, particularly the medical
doctor.
Stash of Messages
The
stash of messages which the police officer discredited as ‘irrelevant’ to the coup
charge he is facing allegedly contain security tips about how to go about the various
stages of the build-up to the D-Day when the government would be toppled
according to their plan.
After
his maiden appearance in a Kaneshie Magistrate Court in Accra last Wednesday,
the superior police officer told the media in a brief remark that the WhatsApp
messages over which he had been charged were irrelevant. Besides, he claimed to
be as strong as anything and could not be broken down.
It
is instructive that he admitted by the remarks that there are social media
messages between him and some persons related to the subject. He did not,
however, state what the contents of the communications were.
The alleged
details DAILY GUIDE has stumbled upon present the superior police
officer as holding an important position in the plot, as the messages
underscore this unambiguously.
Start-up
According
to the plan, a series of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were going to be
detonated across Accra, especially the Jubilee House (Presidency), to simulate
tension and facilitate the destabilization of the plot.
A
situation of tension would be simulated followed by demonstration until the
D-Day when already primed troops would be deployed to enforce the final strike.
Serious Mission
The
whole alleged plot started with security novices at first, perhaps deliberately,
but as things progressed, security experts popped up as deduced from the
messages.
Critical
security advice was no longer in short supply with the advent of the experts in
the scheme of things. Additional information indicated that Dr. Agordzo was allegedly
detailed to author the contents of the coup broadcast.
Court Documents
Already,
documents that have been filed by prosecutors in court show that Dr. Agordzo
held “several meetings with the leadership of the group currently in custody
and incited them to take over the government as a right.”
He
is accused of demonstrating commitment “to assist the unlawful enterprise with
various sums of money to facilitate the organization of the intended
demonstration and taking over.”
IED Production
By
28th August 2019, the Citadel Hospital IED production centre had
already produced some quantities of the explosive for the coup, investigators
have learnt.
Financing
Investigators
are also in possession of evidence of how Dr. Agordzo was offering financial
assistance to his ‘collaborators’, their indiscreet communication on social
media including a group giving out too much about the project.
When
the court hearing finally starts Ghanaians, a security source has said, will
have the opportunity to listen to the evidence garnered in the past 15 months
since investigations into the activities of the suspects began.
While
some politicians on the other side of the aisle sought to rubbish the plot as a
red herring, it is becoming clear that the BNI and National Security operatives
are holding on to vital evidence ready to be turned in when the court hearings
begin.
Key Suspects
The
civilians who have already been charged are Dr. Frederick Yao Mac-Palm, a
doctor and the alleged mastermind behind the coup plot; Donya Kafui, aka Ezor,
a local weapon manufacturer (blacksmith) from Alavanyo, and Bright Allan Debrah
Ofosu, aka BB or ADC.
The military officers caught in the alleged coup plot included a senior officer, Col. Samuel Kojo Gameli; Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, Lance Corporal Sylvester Akapewu, Lance Corporal Seidu Abubakar and one WO II Esther Saan, aka Mama Gee, of the Military Academy and Training Schools (MATS), and also a civilian employee of the Ghana Armed Forces, Gershon Akpa.
By A.R. Gomda
