The Ghana Prisons Service has opened an investigation into how a convicted inmate at Ankaful Maximum Security Prison allegedly coordinated an Atebubu queen mother’s killing from behind bars.
In a statement on 30 May 2026 signed by Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Janet Asabea, the Service said preliminary police findings implicate inmate Ishaku Alhassan, also known as Sule Yagani, as an intermediary in the murder of Nana Serwaa Asaama Agyankoma I, also called Nana Serwaa Gyan Kuma I.
The case raises a pointed question for prison authorities. The Service insists personal mobile phones remain “strictly prohibited” for inmates and officers across all facilities, yet investigators say the murder was arranged through intermediaries using mobile money transfers and a SIM card procured for the operation. Police also examined phone communications between suspects before and after the attack.
The Queen Mother, who ran a restaurant called Ohemaa’s Kitchen, was shot at her Atebubu residence on 25 February 2026 as she stepped from her vehicle. Officers recovered three spent 9mm cartridges, and an autopsy by Dr Ernest Boakye of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital on 23 May found she died from massive haemorrhage caused by gunshot wounds.
Police have arrested eight suspects in the Atebubu Amantin Municipality case, including a chief. Suspect Nana Yaw Bediako reportedly confessed and named Nana Owusu Sankofi II, also known as Charles Kofi Owusu, Chief of Akokoa, as the person who contracted the killing for GH¢50,000. Investigators say GH¢21,000 went toward a pistol and ammunition.
The Prisons Service has constituted a senior investigative team to establish the facts and recommend action, and says it is working with the Ghana Police Service on the matter. Management pledged that anyone found culpable would face the full rigours of the law regardless of rank.
The Service said it enforces physical and electronic screening at entry points, intelligence led searches of cells and workshops, and random body searches of inmates and staff to block contraband.
