Mills Driver Dodges

Posted:Daily Guide |Thursday, 29 April 2010

By Charles Takyi-Boadu
There seems to be a deliberate attempt to cover up the shooting of a 44-year-old innocent civil servant, Daniel Nii Okai Adams, by one of the drivers of President John Evans Atta Mills.

On Friday April 23, 2010, William Nii Adu Doku, who works at the seat of government, the Osu Castle, and lives in an area called ‘Nii We’ near Castle, shot Daniel when the latter went to fetch water in his (Nii Adu’s) house.

Daniel, who is currently on admission at the Trust Hospital in Osu, narrated to DAILY GUIDE that just when he was fetching the water around 7:30am, he felt something pierce his back, only to realize that he had been hit by a bullet. There and then, he fell to the ground and was rushed to the hospital.

Asked what exactly led to the incident, Daniel, who was finding it difficult to sit up due to the agony he was in, said Nii Adu, his assailant, told him it was an accidental discharge, and that he was cleaning the pistol when he unfortunately pulled the trigger.

Daniel had since been operated on, but unable to walk.

According to family sources, doctors said two of the nerves in Daniel’s spinal cord were hit by the bullet, thereby making it extremely difficult for him to walk.

It was however not clear whether Nii Adu, who used to drive the then Candidate Mills and his wife Ernestina Naadu throughout the 2008 electioneering campaign, had been given any form of training in handling arms and ammunitions since he was only known to be a driver.

On Tuesday, some Castle officials were said to have visited the victim at the hospital.

Meanwhile, the assailant has not reported the incident to the police and is walking a free man and still wielding the deadly weapon.

It took the authorities of the Trust Hospital to lodge a formal complaint at the Osu Police Station three clear days after the incident, since according to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mabel Aterh, the Osu District Police Commander and Chief Inspector Emmanuel Klutse, the investigator handling the case, Nii Adu had not shown up.

The Osu District Commander was not forthcoming with information when she was reached on phone because “it was too early and the issue is still being investigated”.

When DAILY GUIDE told her that information suggested that the suspect works at the Castle, ASP Aterh denied knowledge.

Though this paper managed after strenuous efforts to reach Nii Adu on his cell phone, he immediately hanged up when he heard the phone call was from DAILY GUIDE.

He has since refused to answer his phone calls to react to the incident.