Andrew Amoako Asiamah, the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, has charged the Defence and Interior Committee with conducting an investigation into the police killing of five people suspected of being land guards.
He has also asked the Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs to collaborate with the Defence and Interior Committee to assist with the inquiry.
The Second Deputy Spear’s directive came after a request made by Sylvester Tetteh, the Member of Parliament for the area, and other lawmakers.
According to him, the committee’s report must be submitted by the end of the month.
“We are making the referral to the committee of the Defence and Interior, and we are asking the leadership of the Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs to also join the Defence and Interior Committee and report back by the end of this month.”
The MPs demanded that Parliament form an inquiry into the incident.
The incident occurred on June 8 during an anti-robbery and land guard operation in Bortianor.
The Ghana Police Service has confirmed that five suspected land guards were shot and five weapons were recovered during an anti-robbery and land guard operation on June 8, 2023, at Bortianor in Accra.
The individuals had been terrorising residents and landowners in Bortianor and nearby communities, according to a statement signed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Director of Public Affairs, Grace Ansah-Akrofi.
According to the police, as a police team approached, the suspects, who were hiding, opened fire, resulting in an exchange of fire. As a result, five suspects were injured and later pronounced dead at the hospital. The remaining suspects eluded capture and are currently on the run.
The Police said it retrieved one AK47 assault rifle, along with ten rounds of AK47 ammunition, a pump-action gun with nine rounds of BB cartridges, two pistols with ten rounds of 9mm ammunition, an unregistered Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, four motorbikes (three of which are unregistered), a knife, and a pepper spray.
Families accuse Police of Cover-up
However, the bereaved families have described the Police statement as a cover-up.
On Rainbow Radio 87.5 FM’s Frontline, the leader of the families, Nii Shipi Kwei Mensah III, Bortianor Shipi, stated that the Police have killed innocent people and must be investigated.
He demanded that the matter be investigated by an independent body.
He called the claims that the deceased persons were the first to fire shots at police officers “false.”
”The Police peddled lies. The young men who were killed were not armed robbers or land guards. They were initially accused, assaulted, and shot several times. The young men were relaxing at their usual spot when the police pounced and killed them. Shouldn’t they have been arrested and prosecuted if they were criminals? Why should you storm the area and murder these defenceless young men?”
He stressed, ”We don’t trust the Police to conduct a credible investigation. We want an independent body to investigate the matter”.
By: Rainboweadioonline.com/Ghana
