Demands for inquiry into death in police cells

Ashaiman, Nov. 24, GNA - Relatives of the late Mr Saviour Gidiglo have appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), to institute an independent autopsy on the body of their son who allegedly died in the Ashaiman Police Cells last Monday.

The appeal was contained in a petition by the family's Solicitor; Mr Sam R. Brempong and copied to the IGP.

This followed conflicting statements on the death as while cell mates said Gidiglo, 29, died in the cell in the early hours of Monday, the police also claimed the death occurred while he was receiving treated at the Tema General Hospital.

Speaking to the GNA on Saturday at Ashaiman, Mr Magnus Gidiglo, father of deceased said while the family wished the autopsy was performed by an independent pathologist at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra the Police insisted that it be carried out at the Police Hospital. He said the family suspected foul play about the death and that the independent autopsy would reveal the real cause of the death as the police was an interested party in the imbroglio.

Mr Gidiglo said about a month ago, a man called Kwesi engaged Saviour to dig a manhole at Batsile near Michel Camp. The two settled on a fee of GH A2400 (Four million cedis) and Saviour collected 1.5 million cedis as advance payment.

He said Saviour also employed some young men to assist him in the work and he gave them part of the money. After digging the hole about four feet deep they got to a very big stone so they poured water on it to soften the place but the owner of the manhole thought they were delaying the work and went to hire a machine to complete the job.

This according to Mr Gidiglo infuriated Kwesi who went to Saviour to demand the 1.5 million cedis because he did not execute the job but Saviour told him he shared it with those he employed. When he insistently demanded the money Saviour's mother intervened and promised to mobilize some money to refund it in order to bring peace even though the job was almost completed.

Mr Gidiglo said this did not go down well with Kwesi who took Saviour to the Ashaiman Police station where the personnel on duty told them it was a purely civil case. He said on Saturday, November 17, Kwesi got hold of Saviour again and pulled him into a taxi to the police station where he was remanded in cells.

According to Mr Gidiglo the family visited him on both Saturday and Sunday evening and saw him in healthy condition, but on another visit on Monday the cell mates informed them that Saviour had passed away early in the morning and the body had been conveyed to the Tema General Hospital.

The relatives then proceeded to the Hospital where the nurses on duty at the Out Patients Department (OPD) looking through the record books informed them that the police had brought the body there at 9:30 hours after he had died.

Meanwhile, the Tema Regional Police Crime Officer, Chief Superintendent Joshua Dogbeda, when contacted on telephone, confirmed Saviour's death. He said, however, that preliminary reports reaching him indicated that Saviour fell sick and was behaving abnormally so he was sent to the TGH but died while he was being treated. 24 Nov. 07