The Ashaiman District Court has remanded a 43-year-old soldier, WOII Dzisenu Ben, into police custody over the alleged murder of 45-year-old Abdul Shaban at Mawugbedzibe, near Afienya.

WOII Dzisenu, who faces a murder charge under Section 46 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), did not enter a plea when he appeared before the court.

Presided over by Derick Parden Eshun, the court ordered that the accused remain in police custody and adjourned the case to August 27, 2026.

According to the prosecution, led by Inspector Henry Tetteh Nartey, the incident occurred on August 23, 2025, when WOII Dzisenu and WOI Yamoah Mark, both attached to the Base Ammunition Depot (BAD) at Michel Camp, went to the Afienya Police Station to report an incident at Mawugbedzibe.

The prosecution told the court that the two soldiers reported that an unidentified man had confronted WOII Dzisenu while he was on his property at Mawugbedzibe and attempted to take his M16 rifle from him.

The soldier allegedly responded by firing his weapon at the man.

Police officers subsequently accompanied the soldiers to the location, where they found Shaban lying motionless on the ground.

The deceased was reportedly found with a suspected gunshot injury to the upper chest, close to the neck.

He was pronounced dead and his remains were subsequently transported to the Tema General Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

The prosecution said the M16 rifle, bearing serial number 000470-11, along with its magazine and ammunition, was recovered from the scene and retained as evidence for further investigations.

A post-mortem examination conducted by Dr Eric Dumfeh, a pathologist at the Tema General Hospital, determined that Shaban died from a perforating gunshot wound to the heart.

A bullet recovered from the deceased’s body was later sent to the Police Forensic Laboratory for ballistic analysis.

The prosecution further told the court that the pathologist’s findings showed that the nature of the injury was consistent with a near-contact, angled gunshot wound, indicating that the shooter may have been positioned at a higher level than the victim.

Both WOII Dzisenu and WOI Yamoah Mark subsequently provided written caution statements to investigators in the presence of an independent witness.

Inspector Nartey said investigators later duplicated the case docket and submitted it to the Attorney-General’s Office for legal advice.

Following the advice received, the police charged WOII Dzisenu with murder and brought him before the Ashaiman District Court.

The court subsequently remanded him into police custody and directed that he reappear on August 27, 2026.