On 30 June 1982 three high court judges and a retired army officer were abducted from their homes between the hours of 9:00pm and 10:30pm GMT and murdered at the Bundase military shooting range near Accra.
Rumours spread, suggesting that members of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) were involved in the killings, as the judges had previously overturned rulings made by the AFRC's People's Revolutionary Courts.
[4] One of the persons involved in the murders, Amartey Quaye, was a former secretary-general of the GIHOC Workers' Union and harboured resentment towards Major Sam Acquah.
Acquah, who was the director of personnel at the Ghana Industrial Holdings Company (GIHOC) at the time, had signed the dismissal notices of Quaye and other labour leaders following a demonstration in Accra in 1981.
[6][7][8] Although their motives remained unclear, it was alleged that certain high-ranking government officials were directly involved, with the killings reportedly intended to resolve some earlier grievances.
[9] In response to the discovery of the bodies, Chairman Rawlings appeared on national television to condemn the "hideous acts of terrorism" perpetrated by "enemies of the revolution.
As a result, he suggested that the board submit a complete and final report of its investigation as of 21 December 1982, excluding the cross-examination of Mr. Amartey Quaye by Captain Kojo Tsikata’s counsel.
Brigadier Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, the former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), testified before the board that when he saw the PNDC chairman around that time, Rawlings appeared to be completely unaware of the events.
The SIB recommended that five individuals identified in its interim report should be charged and brought to trial at the High Court, following the preparation of the necessary documents and bill of indictment.
[15] At a press conference in Accra, where he officially released the 55-page SIB report and his own 26-page commentary on it, Mr. G. E. K. Aikins stated that he could not, "in justice and good conscience," initiate criminal proceedings against five other individuals against whom the board had made adverse findings.
The tribunal was led by Mr. George Agyekum as the chairperson, with members including Madam Comfort Doe, Staff Sergeant Mumuni Seidu, Mr. Jenkins Kofie, and Lance Corporal Moses Tonka.
Amartey Quaye and Johnny Dzandu were executed at the dawn of 17 August 1983 by firing squad at a range near John Teye Memorial School on the Nsawam road.
Justice Samuel Azu Crabbe, the chairman of the Special Investigation Board (SIB), described the event as "the most outrageous crime in the annals of this country," and its impact continued to resonate.
Not long after the trial concluded, the Chief of the Defense Staff, Joseph Nunoo-Mensah, resigned, stating that he could no longer support the goals and methods of Rawlings's leadership.
[20] Captain Kojo Tsikata filed a defamation lawsuit against The Independent on 26 March 1993 after it published the SIB's report alleging that he had "masterminded" the kidnapping and subsequent murders.