Soldiers stripped me naked- Witness

Kumasi, Sept 19, GNA- A petitioner on Friday told the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) that her torture by a group of gun-wielding soldiers, who stormed their house in Accra in 1979, to seize 50 full pieces of cloth her mother was then selling, had left her "chronic terrible pains in the head and hearing impairment".
"They stripped me and two other girls naked, kicked and slapped us several times, put us on chairs and used broken bottles to shave us as blood oozed from the head and flowed down our cheeks".
Madam Comfort Debrah from Bedomase near Agona in the Afigya-Sekyere District in Ashanti, who at the time was only 14 years old, said the soldiers also scraped their shin with a stone. "The eldest girl among us, Salina, then 17 years, who attempted to escape the horrific treatment, was shot and killed".
Madam Debrah was giving evidence at the last day of the Commission's public hearing in Kumasi.
The petitioner said they were in the house one morning when a truck load of armed soldiers invaded it.
"My mother, Adwoa Fordjour, who used to bring down cloths into the country from Nigeria, had just left the house to attend to nature's call when the soldiers came in.
"They demanded to know from us where she had gone to and when we told them she had gone to the toilet, they started the merciless beating".
Madam Debrah said "on hearing of their arrest and fearing that we might have been killed by the soldiers, my mother fled from Accra to our village where she poisoned herself."
She said they spent three months on admission at the hospital and that the medical expenses were paid by a "Good Samaritan" who she did not mention the name.
The traumatic experience, she said, had made her become so scared of soldiers, saying, "My lord, I get so terrified at the sight of anyone in military uniform".
The petitioner is pleading with the NRC to recommend to the government to help pay her medical expenses because she goes for medical treatment every month.
Another witness, Mrs Agnes Bandasoa Tabasi, a teacher, recounted her harassment and threats on her life by the security services following the overthrow of the Limann's government in 1981.
She said, she was quizzed for three days by the police, and was even prevented from changing her cloths and had a gun pulled at her by a soldier.
Witness who is the wife of Mr Lawrence Bandasoa Tabasi, a former Deputy Minister of Interior during the Limann's regime, said she was forced to escape into neighbouring Burkina Faso where she lived for five years in exile with the husband.
"We returned to the country as paupers. All our property in Kumasi and Bolgatanga were stolen".
Mrs Tabasi told the Commission that some quantity of cement, boards, roofing sheets and even sand they had bought for the construction of a hotel project at Paga were all stolen".
The petitioner, who became very emotional as her narration progressed and shed intermittent tears, said they were forced to distribute their seven children the youngest of whom was then six years to stay with relatives.
"Their education was seriously affected as they dropped out of school. Money we sent down to cater for their schooling, was used for other purposes", she said.
The petitioner said the terrible ordeal she was forced to go through has over the years haunted her so much so that, she has developed hypertension.
Her year's in exile also affected her progression in the Ghana Education Service (GES), she said, adding that, this compelled her to retire prematurely from the Service.

"As a Christian, I have forgiven those who caused me so much pain and stress", she stated amidst sobbing.

Invite Nanfuri to throw light on the whereabouts of Yeboah -Witness

Kumasi, Sept 19, GNA- A witness on Friday called on the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) to invite Mr Peter Nanfuri, onetime Director of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) to assist unravel the mystery about the disappearance of Corporal Anthony Kofi Yeboah of the Fourth Battalion of Infantry (4BN) in 1985.

Corporal Yeboah was arrested and sent down to the BNI headquarters in connection with an alleged attempted coup in Kumasi in 1985 and has since never been heard of.

The witness, ex-Corporal Emmanuel Sawundi, told the Commission that since it was Mr Nanfuri who ordered that the soldier should be taken away from the BNI cells where he was being held to be tortured, "he should tell us where Corporal Yeboah was sent to and what happened to him".

He was giving evidence when he appeared before the NRC to throw some light on Corporal Yeboah's mysterious disappearance. Witness said following the alleged coup, soldiers at the 4BN who went by the names Yeboah, Bawa and Botchwey were all arrested and sent to Accra.

He said, he was also arrested and that they were held at the BNI and were interrogated by Mr Nanfuri, Naval Captain Asase Gyimah and one Ampadu.

"My Lord, Nanfuri told me that since I was not co-operating, he was going to hand me over to my own men.

I was blindfolded, handcuffed from behind and bundled into a truck", he said, adding that, "once inside the truck, I could feel that I was lying on other people".

Ex-Corporal Sawundi said they were taken to various points he could not see because he had been blindfolded and tortured with barbed wires and electric shocks.

"I heard Corporal Yeboah crying for water. He was calling the name of his girlfriend, Esi, and kept saying, "Esi, give me water, Esi, give me water".

He said, "I also cried for water when the electric shock was applied and when the soldiers were about to give me water, I heard them saying doctor is coming".

The doctor, according to the ex-soldier, shouted, "did I not tell you not to give them water. This was what you did to Yeboah and he died".

Ex-Corporal Sawundi said he was informed, whilst in prison by Esi when she visited him that, she had combed all the prisons and military guardrooms and could not trace Corporal Yeboah. Another witness, Mr Sarfo Manu, a lathe turner at the Suame Magazine, recounted the seizure of his 42,000 CFA in 1983 by some soldiers.

He said he had stuffed the money in the collar of his shirt but this was detected by soldiers who had then mounted a barrier on the Accra-Aflao road.

Witness said he was returning to the country with the money after staying and working in Nigeria for sometime.

Manu said the soldiers subjected him to severe beating that had left him with hearing impairment.

The sister of the late Air Vice Marshal George Yaw Boakye, one of the top military officers executed during the days of the June 4 uprising, also appeared before the commission.

Madam Agnes Boakye wants the government to assist her to take care of the 94-year-old mother of Air Vice Marshal Boakye.

Mr Justice G Amuah-Sekyi, Chairman of the Commission thanked all petitioners who appeared before it and also expressed the NRC's gratitude to the security services, the media and GNAT for the "tremendous support" during its public hearing in Kumasi.