Mob demands instance justice for alleged Ivorien killers

Kofi Badukrom (B/A) Oct. 29, GNA - An irate mob on Thursday besieged the security check point at Kofi Badukrom on the Ghana-Ivory Coast Border in Dormaa district, demanding the blood of two Ivorien gendarmerie.

The two Ivoriens, whose names have been withheld for security reasons, were alleged to have shot and killed Kofi Asante, a 27 year old Ghanaian in a bush at Kofi Badukrom. It took the combined efforts of police and other security personnel at the border as well as Squadron Leader Ben Anane Asamoah (rtd), Dormaa District Chief Executive several hours to control the situation. The suspects are in police custody at Dormaa Ahenkro. Meanwhile the body of the deceased a citizen of Yawkrom, a farming community in the district has been deposited at Dormaa Presbyterian hospital mortuary. Squadron Leader Asamoah told the Ghana News Agency that he and the Ivorien authorities and security personnel were yet to interrogate the suspects to ascertain the cause of the shooting incident. The DCE said available information indicated that the mob action was triggered when the suspects entered the Ghanaian side of Kofi Badukrom after the incident to make a telephone call to inform their superiors about the incident. A French-speaking Ghanaian on hearing what the suspects were transmitting raised the alarm, which drew residents to the scene, wielding offensive weapons amid chanting of war songs.

A cross section of residents of Kofi Badukrom endorsed the DCE's plea for a diplomatic approach to the problem, saying that even though a life had been lost, care must be taken to avert the recurrence of the brutalities meted to Ghanaians in Abidjan after an Asante Kotoko-Asec Mimosa football match some years ago. Squadron Leader Asamoah appealed for calm and warned that any group or individual who will take the law into his or her hands to foment trouble will be made to face the full rigours of the law. 29 Oct. 05