Today in History: The Riots of February 28, 1948

Exactly 75 years ago today, on February 28, 1948, a number of ex-servicemen who were marching from Accra to the Christiansburg Castle to present a petition to the governor over their unpaid war benefits were shot.

The shooting of the ex-servicemen, which has become popularly known as the "February 28 Christiansburg Crossroads Shooting incident," happened after they were intercepted at the crossroads by a contingent of armed policemen.

The three men—Sergeant Adjetey, Corporal Attipoe, and Private Odartey Lamptey—all members of the then Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force, were shot dead after refusing the order of a British Police Superintendent, Mr. Colin Imray, to stop their match to the castle.

The event precipitated the country’s struggle for independence and is marked annually in honour of the three ex-servicemen who were killed during the march to the seat of the colonial government on February 28, 1948.

The ex-soldiers had fought alongside the allied forces in the Gold Coast Regiment of the Royal West African Frontier Force during the Second World War and had returned home poor, but they were not paid their gratuity.

After several appeals to the colonial government to consider their plight had failed, the ex-servicemen decided that a direct appeal should be made to the British colonial governor of the Gold Coast, hence the march.

Read the full story originally published on February 28, 2013 by Nana Akwah

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