The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako widely known as Chairman Wontumi has spoken about his experience in the custody of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

Chairman Wontumi was arrested on May 27, 2025, following an invitation by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for questioning over alleged serious criminal offences, including fraud, causing financial loss to the state, and money laundering.

He alleged that the conditions were so deplorable that he felt death drawing near.

Speaking at a political event in the Adansi Asokwa constituency on Wednesday, September 10, Chairman Wontumi recounted what he described as a traumatic experience, painting a vivid picture of the physical and psychological toll he says he endured in detention.

“When I was arrested by EOCO, if you count your legs three times, that’s the width of the place where I was kept,” he told the crowd. “If you look at where I slept, I nearly died.”

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He suggested that his proximity to death was not merely a feeling, but a spiritual realisation. He claimed to have sensed the presence of deceased relatives, a sign, in his view, that his life was on the verge of ending.

“If someone is about to die, you’d know, you would see your relatives who have already passed away; you would begin to sense their presence around you, which literally means you are about to join them.”

Drawing an emotional comparison to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Wontumi said his suffering in detention reminded him of Christ’s final moments on the cross.

“I felt the presence of death around me in the place I was kept, just like when Jesus Christ shouted, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani’ during his crucifixion. That’s when I also shouted, ‘People of Ghana, arise! Ghana, arise! It is because of you that I am being treated this way,” he said.

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