Off-Duty Police Officer GunsDown Civilian Over Lorry Fare

…IGP Promises Deceased Family Of Justice

An off-duty police officer, identified as General Constable Smith Gyekye, has been arrested after tragically shooting and killing a 25-year-old man at Koans Estate near Kuntunse in Accra on Sunday, August 18.

The heinous crime, reportedly occurred around 4:00 am, following an alleged confrontation between the deceased, Stanley Ahadzi and the police officer, over lorry fare.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, who has visited the deceased’s family together with members of the Police Management Board (POMAB) to commiserate with them, assured justice, will be served.

Constable Gyekyi, who is a serving officer with the International Relations Directorate (IRD), was said to be operating a commercial Matiz vehicle with registration number GW 6459-21, for ride-hailing services.

Reports indicate that, the suspect, who is currently in Police custody assisting with investigations, picked up a female passenger by name Esther Owusua, from Ablekuma Joma, to the Koans Estate.

However, after reaching the destination, Owusua reportedly lost her way and called the deceased for assistance, which he agreed and came to her aid.

Unfortunately, when the deceased arrived at the Estate gate, a disagreement reportedly ensued over the fare charged by the suspect.

The confrontation, later escalated leading to suspect (police officer) pulling out his sidearm in anger, shot the young man, killing him instantly.

The police were later deployed to the scene, where the deceased was found lying in a supine position with multiple gunshot wounds and blood covering his body.

The body of the deceased, is currently deposited at the Police Hospital morgue for preservation and autopsy, pending an investigation into the case.

2 Friends Killed

Meanwhile, two friends, have been shot and killed by armed robbers, who attacked and robbed a mobile money vendor at Welembelle in the Sissala East Municipality.

The Assembly Member of the Welembelle Electoral area, Jonas Dimah, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that at about 1900 hours on Saturday, four armed men stormed a mobile money joint at Sukparibelle, a suburb of Welembelle and took away an unspecified amount of money, amid sporadic shooting.

He said all the people at the scene, were asked to lie down before their money was taken away from them at gunpoint.

According to him, after the robbery, the robbers attempted to escape, but the deceased Munkailu Tordia, 40 years and Fuseini Benorwuo, 38 years a driver and a farmer, who saw the incident from a distance, raised the alarm and decided to chase them, which resulted in the robbers shooting them to death.

Other eyewitnesses, said the deceased identified one of the robbers and mentioned the name, leading to the eventual shooting of the pair.

“The moment after the attack, two of the robbers who could not start the engine of the unregistered Aloba motorcycle left it and bolted, while shooting in the air. This scared many of the residents, who hid in their rooms in fear,” a witness said.

Upon hearing of the incident, angry youth, combed the immediate surroundings in search of them, but were unsuccessful.

The Police in Welembelle, also joined the community to pursue the robbers before Chief Superintendent Frederick Lumor, the Sissala East Divisional Commander, visited the scene of the attack and interacted with the families of the deceased.

He encouraged the elders and members of the community, to partner with the police by giving useful information that would lead to the arrest of the suspects.

He assured the people of a swift investigation into the issue.

No arrest has been made at the time of filing this report.

The Welembelle robbery and the killing of the two, have shocked the entire Sissala area, where armed robbery of mobile money vendors and shops, appear to be on the rise.

For the past two months, robberies have been reported at Bugubelle, Kong, Challu and Welembelle.

The Police in Tumu, however, had made some arrests in the robbery incident at Kong and the alleged attackers, were arraigned before court.

Welembelle is the next largest community apart from Tumu with a population of close to 4,000 people with limited police personnel and several communities to serve, which are far from each other.

The Assembly member, appealed to the Inspector General of Police, to increase the Police presence in Welembelle and open other Police posts in the Sissala East Municipality.

The two deceased who left behind wives, children and other relatives ,have since been buried according to Islamic rites.