The Eastern Regional Police Command has denied culpability in the death of an Africa World Airlines technician, Prince Kobina Kumi, during the Easter festivities.
According to the police, it reasonably exercised its discretion in handling a situation the deceased had gotten himself involved in before his death.
The family of the deceased accused police at Akroso of killing the 34-year-old man who was on his way to the town from Accra for the Easter festivities.
The family claimed the police shot and killed the deceased after seizing his car for drink-driving.
But the Oda Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Samuel Ntosoh, in an interview on Eyewitness News said the police are not responsible for the man’s death.
According to him, the Police attempted to detain the deceased, who was drunk, until he was sober enough to drive on his own was unsuccessful as he refused to stay with them.
“They pleaded with him [the deceased] so that he goes with them to the station, they will find a place for him to relax and if he relaxes and he is okay, later he can go ahead with his vehicle, but he refused to go with them. There is evidence that the driver alighted the man at Asub0a, people saw him walking from Asuboa town towards the mother’s house in the night. What happened to him when he got down from the car walking towards the mother’s house to where we saw him is the issue. So if people are accusing Akroso police of murder, I don’t understand it, but we still want to sympathize with them [the family]. The perceptions are going too wild, and it will not help us,” he said.
“We found the body in the bush, close to the roadside….We saw certain things on the body that suggest foul play, but we don’t want to talk much about it until the doctor has done his postmortem…. Parts of the body as being alleged are not missing, but it had been tampered with. They got a passenger that they knew very well. Took the vehicle number and put the man on-board the vehicle and asked the driver to alight him at Asubuoa,” he added.
But the family has discounted portions of the police narration of the incident.
Listen to his explanation below:
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police [IGP], David Asante Apeatu, acting upon a petition by the family of the deceased to investigate the matter, has ordered the Police Professional and Standards Bureau (PIPS), to begin investigations into the matter.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
