NPP Gangsters Attack Judge

Justice N.C.A Agbevor, a High Court Judge in the Volta Regional capital, Ho, has recused himself from hearing a case involving an injunction placed on the Ho Central Constituency elections of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) held last year, after his residence was attacked and some of his siblings subjected to beatings. The Judge had a tip-off that a party to the case he was hearing had been spotted entering his (judge) residence. The attackers had gone to the house on suspicion that their opponent in the case was going to bribe the judge. The attackers subjected the Judge�s brother and security man at post to severe beatings, when they were not able to show the whereabouts of the judge, who was the main target for the attack. The attackers then yanked a hand bag in the possession of the judge�s brother, which contained an unspecified amount of money and other valuables, and bolted with them. Justice Agbevor became a subject of the attack after he began hearing the case on an injunction placed on the elected executives of the Ho Central Constituency of the NPP, which came before the court on the 22nd January, 2014. The parties in the case had taken entrenched positions and, therefore, could not resolve their differences in an out of court arbitration. The judge started hearing the case on the 17th March, 2014, and was earnestly handling the case to give final judgement before the party�s upcoming National election, slated for Tamale on Friday. In a letter to the Chief Justice, which has been intercepted by The Chronicle, Justice N.C.A Agbevor narrated that on the day of the attack, he heard an unusual noise in his compound and came out only to see a man he identified as the first defendant in the case with a camera, while the other attackers took pictures of his residence. The Judge narrated that the attackers surprisingly took to their heels and abandoned their motorbikes and sandals at the gate, upon setting eyes on him, but he was able to arrest the man holding the camera and sent him to the Volta Region Police headquarters. The culprits, according to the High Court Judge, alleged that they saw an NPP man, who was a party in the case, dropping somebody off at the Judge�s gate, who they believe was there to bribe him. The elders of the party, after hearing the narration of the culprits, pleaded with the judge to withdraw the case, which he (Justice Agbevor) willingly did. The next morning, the owners of the motorbike and the sandals came to his residence to apologize for their action, saying they were misled and pledged never to repeat such behaviour again. In view of all these, Justice Agbevor said he had to adjourn the case to the 19th of March 2014. The High Court Judge said he could not readily remember handling any such case in the past, in which threats were issued against him, but resolved that due to the concerns raised and attacks on him, and in the interest of justice, he had to recuse himself from the case.