MP demands answers over alleged EOCO arrest attempt at court

Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah says he drove away from the Accra High Court after a woman who claimed to be from the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) threatened to force him into a vehicle.

Speaking to journalists in Parliament on Wednesday, the MP said the woman approached him after he had represented his client, detained nurse Salomey Baffoe Awiti, at a court hearing. The proceedings were adjourned to Thursday, September 24.

“She approached me and then she touched my hand and said I should join her because I was needed at EOCO,” he said. “If you want me at EOCO, why don’t you invite me?”

Mr Awuah said the woman told him he had previously been invited to EOCO but had failed to appear. He denied receiving an invitation and said he offered to travel to the office in his own vehicle.

“Then she said no. She would forcibly take me into their vehicle and drive me to EOCO,” he told journalists.

The MP said he asked the woman to show proof that she was an EOCO officer and to produce an arrest warrant, but she provided neither. That is his account; the material supplied does not include a response from EOCO or independently establish the woman’s identity.

Mr Awuah said he left because he feared for his safety and drove to Parliament, where he was due to take part in committee work. He alleged that the encounter resembled what he described as state-sponsored kidnappings. No evidence supporting that allegation was provided in the material supplied.

His account follows a confrontation at the court involving lawyers for Ms Baffoe and personnel believed to be EOCO officers. It remains unclear whether EOCO had invited the MP for questioning, whether anyone intended to arrest him, and why officers sought to take him to the agency’s office.

Related article: Manhyia South MP declines EOCO request at Accra court