BNI Submits Missing Cocaine/Baking Soda Report To Mills

The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) on Friday presented its interim report through the National Security Coordinator to President John Evans Atta Mills. A statement from the Ministry of Information and signed by deputy Minister for Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said, �the President is now in receipt of the BNI�s interim report and is studying it for follow-up action. � On December 14, 2011, the Government tasked the BNI to unravel the mystery surrounding how a substance suspected to be cocaine and handed over to an Accra Circuit Court turned into sodium bicarbonate. The BNI was given seven days to submit its report on whether the substance handed over to the court by the Police in September 2011 was the same substance that was later presented to the Ghana Standards Authority for testing. But a few days to the deadline, the BNI requested for an extension in order to complete its investigations. The Government therefore granted a request by the Bureau of National Investigations for an extension of time beyond the seven-day time frame given to it to investigate the circumstances under which substance that was tested as cocaine turned into sodium bicarbonate. Government, however, indicated that the BNI had up to today, January 6, 2012 to present its report to President Mills, which it has accordingly done. In a related development, President Mills has met with heads of the various security agencies to deliberate on the provisional report. Meanwhile, a committee set up by the Chief Justice to also investigate the matter has already completed its work and submitted its report to the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood.