I've permanent pain in my head after torture - Chief

The Nkosuohene of Atibie in the Eastern Region, Nana Baafour Ahima on Wednesday told the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) that his detention and brutalities meted out to him by operatives of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) had left a permanent pain in his head.

He has also developed hypertension because of the treatment meted out to him.

Nana Ahima said after unsuccessful attempts to treat his ailments at the Police, SSNIT and Korle-Bu Teaching Hospitals, he is now seeking treatment in Germany at the expense of his children because his doctor has warned him not to work.

Nana Ahima, who described himself as a businessman and a politician, said he was accused of allegedly conspiring to stage a coup.

Led in evidence by Mr Edmund Mingle, he said he spent four-and-a-half months at the BNI.

He told the Commission that one Okai Addo, former Protocol Officer of the National Sports Council pointed him out to two soldiers who then arrested him on his arrival at the Kotoka International Airport on October 7, 1988 from a business trip to Brazil.

He was told that the then director of the BNI, Mr Peter Nanfuri wanted to see him.

Nana Anima said he gave his wallet containing 4,000 pounds and 3,000 dollars to Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, now Finance Minister, who happened to be around, and asked Okai Addo to tell his wife, who had come to welcome him of where he had been taken.

Nana Ahima said after sitting down for almost two hours without being asked any question, he asked the soldiers to allow him to see the BNI Director, but his request was turned down.

He said after almost two days of flying from Brazil, he had had no bath but the soldiers denied him one when he demanded it.

He also needed sleep and the soldiers forced him to go into a room, which had neither a chair nor a bed.

"They told me to undress and just as I was undressing, one of the soldiers slapped me and knocked my head from behind. I fell and felt sick and when I asked them to take me to the hospital, they refused with the explanation that there was no car."