Calm returns to Aflao after 2 deaths

Calm has returned to Aflao after tension heightened in the area when residents protested against the alleged killing of a fellow resident and drowning of another by the military.

The residents, who had been incensed by what they claim to be reckless conduct of the police cum military patrol team, had backed down on their initial rampage and violent protests.

They backed down after the paramount chief of Aflao, Torgbui Fiti V; head of the police in the Volta Region, DCOP Peterkin Yentumi Gynae; the Municipal Chief Executive of Ketu South, Pascal Lawson and the Member of Parliament for the area, Fifi Kwetey had prevailed on them.

A tour of the Ketu South municipality – Aflao in particular – showed that calm was returning with heavy security presence in the area.

Narrating the cause of the tension, a source told DAILY GUIDE that it all began last Thursday night when security personnel arrested some suspected criminals in the area.

He said when the security personnel got to Atisukope, a suburb of Aflao behind the lorry park, one of the suspects got drowned when he ran into the sea to avoid arrest.

This infuriated his colleagues who engaged the joint police/military team in a scuffle, throwing stones at them, blocking roads, burning tyres, among others.

Just as the security personnel were trying to circumvent the violence, another resident was found dead.

The victim, who had been identified as James Nutsugah, a clearing agent at the Aflao border, was alleged to have been hit in the head through his helmet by a stray bullet after the security men purportedly fired some warning shots to disperse the stone-throwing irate crowd. He is reported to be returning home from work on his motor bike.

The police in the area have however, refuted claim that Nutsugah was shot by a bullet. According to them, the cause of death could only be determined through autopsy.

However, pictures available to DAILY GUIDE show a hole through the helmet of Nutsugah, a constituency executive of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in Ketu South and a wound on his head, suggesting some form of penetration.

A source at the regional police headquarters who confirmed the incident, said that calm had been restored in the area and that the security agents were on top of issues.

He explained that the security forces were initially deployed to Aflao following growing concerns by residents over the alarming spate of criminal activities in the area.