The Dispatch can today confirm that four army officers (all Lieutenants) were initially confined to military detention over the weekend in connection with the shooting incident at the Next Door beach resort at Teshie 10 days ago which led to the untimely death of a 36-year old bio-chemist, Edmund Ayeh.
The fifth, also a Lieutenant, who was due to be picked up over the week-end at his base at Takoradi, is the owner of the car that drove away from Next Door on the evening of the incident
The Dispatch is withholding the names of the five whilst investigations continue.
As at press-time, two of the five had been released after interrogation whilst the other three were being interrogated. The main focus was to find out who was responsible for the shooting. A reliable source close to the office of the President told The Dispatch on Monday: "We expect to hand the person over to the police by Thursday (August 24, 2000)."
Further investigations by The Dispatch revealed that the five were members of a group of Army officers who had gathered in Accra to discuss the celebration of the anniversary of their commissioning into the Army. They had gone to the Next Door resort and were allegedly involved in what a Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) press release last Sunday described as "Criminal and dastardly activity".
The GAF release, signed by the Head of its Public Relations Directorate, Lt. Col J.H. Blood Dzraku, informed the general public that it had instituted full- scale investigation into what has become known as the Next Door shooting incident. It said a number of military personnel had been placed in custody to assist the military and civil authorities in their investigations.
Whilst appealing to the general public to provide any relevant information to assist in investigations, the release added that: "A high powered delegation of the Ghana Armed Forces has already visited the family of the deceased to offer its condolences and seek their assistance in the investigations."
It will be recalled that the late Ayeh went to the Next Door beach resort in the company of some friends for a drink. There had apparently been a misunderstanding between one of the barmen and some young men, who were military personnel. They are said to have left and returned, armed and fired at random. Ayeh, who was then dancing, was hit by two AK-47 bullets, one from the left to the right side of his mid-section, the other hitting him in the elbow.
Ayeh was first rushed to the Korle-Bu Hospital and later sent to the 37 Military Hospital when assistance at Korle-Bu was delaying. He underwent an eight hour operation but died later from his injuries.
Dispatch investigations continue.
