Last Updated- Feb 1, 2009 13:50 - - 0 Comments


Ghanaian stabbed before daughter in UK – Two more arrested

John Nii Abbey - killed on way to see new baby

Two more suspects have been arrested in connection with the stabbing to death of a Ghanaian man in London in front of his three-year-old daugther, the Guardian newspaper has reported.

The newspaper quoting detectives at Scotland Yard who are investigating the murder say the two arrests were made Sunday morning February 1, 2009. A 36-year-old man was detained in a pre-planned operation and was in custody at a south London police station. No details were made available on the second arrest.

26-year-old John Nii Kacsu Abbey died from his wounds which he sustained from a single stab to the heart at a bus stop in Croydon, south London Thursday evening.

Nii Abbey, a boxer known among his friends as King was on his way to a nearby hospital, the Mayday hospital with his daughter to see his wife who has given birth to a baby boy when the fatal incident happened.

On the day of the fatal attack, detectives arrested a 22-year-old man on suspicion of murder after he turned himself in at a south London police ­station. They have been given until tonight to hold him.

The newspaper quoting officers said Abbey got involved in an argument with a second man, believed to be a former colleague, before the fatal blow was struck. His daughter watched as paramedics tried to save her father’s life. Abbey was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons, who is leading the investigation, told the newspaper that circumstances had left him and other officers shocked. He said the tragedy must “prick people’s consciences” and encourage them to come forward with information.

“It is a double tragedy for the three-year-old, his wife and the son he will never see,” Lyons told the newspaper.

Nii Abbey’s boxing exploits

26-year-old John Nii Kacsu Abbey fought as a Featherweight amateur boxer. He fought under the name King Abbey, and he has won various medals fighting for Ghana. He was a member of the Black Bombers that represented Ghana at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.

At the age of 19, Abbey won a gold medal in the boxing championships of the Supreme Council of Sports in Africa in Lomé, Togo.

Reports say the 22-year-old man who has been arrested in connection with the murder is believed was embroiled in a long-running feud with the boxer.

Meanwhile, child psychologists are helping care for Abbey’s three-year-old daughter who watched paramedics attempt to save her father after he was stabbed once in the heart. The 26-year-old was pronounced dead at the Mayday University Hospital, Croydon, at 7.08pm last Thursday, where hours earlier his baby son had been born. The boxer was on his way to see his newborn for the first time after picking up his daughter from day care.

Newspaper reports quoted witnesses who recalled how they heard shouting as a row erupted shortly before the Ghanaian man was stabbed.

“There was a man on the ground and ambulancemen were giving him heart massage,” said shopkeeper Hassan Palavor.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

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