Police kill demonstrator

By: Simmons Yussif Kewura, Offinso 

One of the three demonstrators shot by the police at Offinso in the Ashanti Region last week has died at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), where he had been rushed for treatment.

The deceased, Mutalla Mohammed, 26, and two others, sustained gunshot wounds when police reinforcement from Kumasi opened fire on demonstrators from Saboa, a suburb of Offinso, while protesting against the rampant killing of their citizens by vehicles plying that portion of the road.

The body of the deceased has since been buried in accordance with the Muslim religion, whilst the two have been discharged from the hospital.

Briefing The Chronicle, the Divisional Police Commander for Offinso, Chief Supt. Emmanuel Amissah, disclosed that calm had since returned to Offinso, following the intervention of the Paramount Chief of the area, Nana Wiafe Akenten III.

According to the Divisional Commander, the deceased, including some youth from Saboa in Offinso, on May 7 blocked the main Kumasi Techiman road in protest against the killing of a colleague by a taxi cab.

The youth, as revealed to The Chronicle, were demanding the head of the taxi driver who hit and killed their colleague, but the police would not give in to their call.

This provoked the youth to block the road, halting vehicles either from Kumasi towards Techiman or from Techiman towards Kumasi. Not even the intervention of the Municipal Chief Executive for Offinso South, Baffour Amankwa-Kese, would make them budge.

The Police Commander stated that after persuasions failed, the Offinso Police had no other option than call for reinforcement from Kumasi to control the situation.

It was when the police reinforcement arrived and started shooting to disperse the demonstrators, that three of the demonstrators unfortunately, sustained gunshots and were rushed to KATH.

Chief Supt. Amissah, however, told The Chronicle that the police was still investigating the matter.

Meanwhile, information available to The Chronicle revealed that the Saboa portion of the road had been experiencing rampant killing of residents by vehicles, but petitions to the concerned authorities, including the Offinso South Municipal Assembly, to have speed ramps built there, did not yielded any positive results, hence the youth’s decision to block the road

 

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