TheCable

There is yet no resolution in sight to the controversy surrounding the death of Benson Lulu-Briggs, the Kalabari high chief and chairman of Moni Pulo Limited.

Lawyers to the three son of the late billionaire have written a protest to the director general, criminal investigation department of the Ghana police service, demanding another autopsy in accordance with the order of the high court in Accra on July 18, 2019.

In the letter to Addo Dankwa, a commissioner of police, written by Sarkodie Baffour Awuah and Partners and seen by TheCable, the solicitors said the autopsy conducted on Friday was contrary to the court order which had mandated a military doctor to do the post mortem after an agreement reached by the family.

The lawyers said “Col. (Dr.) Attoh, Head of the Department of Anatomy, of the 37 Military Hospital” was to perform the autopsy and the court had also mandated that a sample be made available to Lulu-Briggs’ children but “in a rather bizarre twist, the autopsy was conducted by a certain Dr Lawrence Adusei instead of the named Col. (Dr.) Attoh”.

The lawyers also alleged that Adusei did not allow police pathologists from Ghana and Nigeria to be part of the process as observers, in addition to denying the family the sample.

The autopsy concluded that Lulu-Briggs, who died on December 27, 2018, did not suffer violence at the point of death.

Dumo, the second eldest son, had earlier told TheCable that Seinye, the widow, has a lot of questions to answer over the death of their father.

The widow, in a statement sent to TheCable, denied any foul play and said the autopsy was conducted in the presence of all the parties that were agreed upon by the family.

But the solicitors wrote: “Accordingly, we have the instructions of our clients to inform you that the autopsy was conducted in blatant breach of the aforesaid court order. Indeed, apart from the autopsy being conducted in blatant breach of court order, the conduct and the control of the process by the same Dr Lawrence Adusei raise fundamental questions about, and compromises the credibility of the autopsy

“It is a notorious fact that Dr. Lawrence Adusei in many instances has been at the centre of controversy in botched criminal trials in the country for failing to undertake credible autopsies. To name but a few are the cases of the J.B. Danquah and Major Mahama trials. In the J.B. Danquah trial for instance, Dr Lawrence Adusei lost the autopsy report under very bizarre circumstances. We are aware that by reason of the reprehensible conduct, the Attorney General’s Department has directed the Ghana Police Serve not to procure Dr Adusei’s services in any of its criminal investigations. Consequently, Dr. Lawrence Adusei’s involvement in a mater as controversial as the instant one was most unfortunate to say the least.

“In the circumstances of the aforementioned breaches and discredited autopsy, we have the instruction of our clients to say that they do not trust the process to yield credible outcome. Our clients therefore respectfully request for a fresh autopsy to be done on their deceased father’s body in compliance with the Court Order in order to remove all the doubts and bring finality to the matter.

“Also we would be grateful if you could initiative an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the interference of Dr Lawrence Adusei in, and his hijacking of the autopsy held on 19th July 2019, to find out among others how the same Dr Adusei got to know about the autopsy and who invited him to conduct the autopsy.”

The lawyers wrote on behalf of Dumo, Senibo and Sofiri, the sons of the late billionaire.