Bolga murder: Police accused of shielding killers

An angry family at Damweo, a community in the Upper East regional capital, Bolgatanga, has descended heavily on the Ghana Police Service for allegedly shielding a group of young men who reportedly killed their relation.

Akafari Aloma was clubbed to death Sunday April 3, this year, whilst returning from the Bolgatanga Sports Stadium where he had gone to watch a football match. Reasons for the sudden mob attack on the unemployed young man who, but for the violent attack he suffered, would have turned 34 years this June are still unknown.

The police, in whom the grieving family placed considerable trust to help unveil the mystery surrounding the cold-blooded murder, according to the family, have refused to go after the suspects. The alleged unconcerned posture of the police baffles angry members of the family who say not a single arrest attempt has been made since they presented to the Upper East Regional Police Command about a week ago names of some 16 people believed to be responsible for the killing.

How he was killed

The sudden attack on Akafari happened inside the Donkey Market at Dapoore-Tindongo, about 130 metres from the stadium.

An eyewitness account fed to the family indicates that two men, one of them was wearing dreadlocks and widely known in the area for heavy smoking, appeared from behind the victim whilst he was walking and hit him repeatedly with sticks and rocks.

He ran from the spot of the attack into the arms of a woman as his attackers searched for him. Bleeding profusely from his head, he was too frail to breathe or to sit upright let alone to relay what just happened to him to the bewildered-looking woman.

Soon after his arrival at his supposed safe haven, whilst his kind custodian was trying to call for help, another man appeared, purposely to visit a fresh attack on him. But the woman managed to thrust herself between the assaulter and the struggling victim to prevent further harm. Her intervention did not last.

A whole gang of strong men came out from different corners soon after. They rallied at the spot and dealt him a deadly dose of hammering and sticking that left him unconscious for a while as the woman wailed to no avail. His assailants did not mention what might have provoked the attack.

A taxicab came into the scene to rush the victim to the hospital but the mob strongly barred the driver from doing so. Attempts to take the victim away from the spot were met with fierce resistance from the gang. In the long run, two men penetrated the circle and lifted the victim onto a motorcycle to the hospital. He died the following day at 4:10am, as his medical folder shows, leaving no word behind.

Most of the killings that happened in the past during clashes related to chieftaincy disputes in the region and beyond never ended in the arrest let alone the prosecution of suspected killers.

Grabbing people and locking them behind bars for shedding blood over a chieftaincy title carries a highly combustible potential to trigger an endless war out of a fleeting brawl. Such an action is a grey area the police exclusively feel proud to avoid for general safety and security reasons.

A long chain of examples of agitations over chieftaincy killings that ended in the middle of nowhere has taught the people over the years that those who get killed in such circumstances die in vain and their families, no matter how loud they chant for justice, will never see the perpetrators biting their fingernails in prison yards.

So, when the Upper East Regional Police Command reportedly tried to link Akafari’s killing to a chieftaincy clash that erupted on the same day and in the same municipality Akafari was murdered, the family disagreed in the strongest of terms and quickly so.

In fact, the family has held two news conferences so far, with the first meeting largely dissociating the murder of their relation from the chieftaincy row and the second conference essentially telling the world how the police had so let them down that ‘advising themselves’ was the next option to consider.

“We want to state emphatically that our late brother had no relationship with the factions involved in the chieftaincy dispute. It is clear to us that he was murdered basically out of hatred by those unscrupulous people. The family is particularly sad at the manner in which the situation is being handled by the police.

“Despite several attempts to dissociate the murder of Akafari from the ongoing chieftaincy dispute, the police are continuously linking the two. Is it the case that they (police) have taken side? Have they gone to bed with the murderers?” a statement read to the press by Charles Adimi, spokesperson to the family, inquired.

Press conference held at mortuary

The venue for the second news conference sums up the depth of the loss the family was struggling to come to terms with and how they longed for justice to, as quickly as possible, close the gap of the eternal separation.

It was held around the mortuary of the Upper East Regional Hospital as the body of the slain football enthusiast was being prepared to be laid to rest. The press statement issued by the inconsolable family was spattered in every line with harsh words that suggest the police are the least bothered about the cold tragedy.

The statement cited an instance in which the police told the family during a follow-up visit to the regional police headquarters that a suspect had been nabbed in connection with Akafari’s killing. But it reportedly soon turned out that the said suspect was only a different person the police had arrested at a scene and for a crime both unrelated in any way to the case the family had brought before the command.

The family also mentioned that a plain-cloth police investigator detailed to extract information from an eyewitness did a poor job that appears to have rather worsened the rough road to justice. The investigator, according to the family, cast due regard for confidentiality to the winds when he sought to engage the eyewitness in an open question-and-answer interaction in front of a market crowd.

The method flopped and the mission aborted as the witness refused to speak for fear the same gang who killed Akafari would hear about her assistance to the police and come after her. The family thinks the police should have done better by simply inviting the witness to a safer place like their offices or somewhere else to obtain the needed information.

“Our checks at the Regional Police Crime Office…indicate they (police) are sleeping on the matter,” the statement lamented.

The statement also chides the police, saying they execute thorough enquiries with useful findings only when a police officer falls victim to criminals.

It probed: “We are aware of a case in the Nabdam District where a police officer was killed. In this case, no eyewitness was present, yet everybody in the area was arrested for interrogation. A similar instance occurred at the Timber Market (in Bolgatanga) involving the police and some youth. Everybody was arrested for interrogation. We are told that our brother was attacked in front of two houses. Why can’t everybody in those two houses be picked up for questioning?”

Police upset family met press

Police say they feel stabbed in the back after the family had met them to allow due process take its course only to go and speak to the media even twice.

The family, in the latest press statement, had vowed to “advise” themselves “accordingly” if the police failed to arrest those linked to Akafari’s killing within 48 hours. Immediate efforts made by Starr News to reach the Upper East Regional Police Commander, DCOP Simon Afeku, for response were met with the usual delays that until recently were rare at the command.

The Regional Commander replied in a message sent to Starr News via whatsapp about 24 hours later, describing the steps taken by the family as “unfortunate”.

“It’s rather unfortunate to have held that press conference. We have met them, and they provided a long list out of which they themselves could identify only two which we are following up. Aside our own investigations to unravel the circumstances of the death, which is believed to be some sort of mob action, we working hard to verify that or otherwise. No police witnessed the circumstances of the death, hence we’re working with them and appealing to the general public to assist with investigation thence prosecution,” he remarked.

REGSEC Chairman to summon police

Meanwhile, the Upper East Regional Minister and Chairman of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), Albert Abongo, has given a strong indication that he will invite the police to ensure that justice is done without delay on the matter.

He made this known to Starr News after the bereaved family had met him at his office Monday to complain about the manner the police were handling the case.

“I will get the police to find out why names have been given to them and they have not done anything about it. I have told the family to calm down, to give the police time to do proper investigations to ensure that the culprits are apprehended. I also want to commend the family for the mature approach in which they have handled the matter so far,” the REGSEC Chairman said.