Tamale High Court frees eight suspected murderers

Tamale, Dec. 18, GNA - Eight persons suspected of murdering an 18-year old Junior Secondary School (JSS) student at Aboabo, a suburb of Tamale, early this year, on Wednesday wept for joy when they were acquitted and discharged by a High Court in Tamale.

They were alleged to have murdered Master Ghali Fuseini during the April 23 clashes between supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Rufai Yakubu, Awal Mustapha, Yakubu Alhassan, Musah Razak, Jafaaru Abdul-Rahman, Salifu Alhassan and Afa Iddrisu Alhassan who had earlier looked depressed and reserved, wept when the Supervising High Court Judge, Mr Justice Victor C. Doegah announced the verdict of the seven-member jury.

The eight had all pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, murder, causing damage to property and rioting with offensive weapons.

In their defence, they denied the charges saying they were not caught in the act but were identified at a police identification parade. The judgment followed spontaneous shouts of joy from relatives and sympathisers who had parked the courtroom and the yard to hear the verdict.

They sang songs of happiness, waved handkerchiefs and invaded the main street from the Regional Police Headquarters to the High Court in Tamale.

Senior State Attorney, Mr Anthony R. Wiredu, had told the court that on April 23, this year, communal violence broke out in Tamale between supporters of the NDC and the NPP, in which Master Fuseini was shot and killed and his body set ablaze. He said the rioters also burnt 11 houses.

Mr Wiredu said on receiving the information that there was rioting in the Tamale Municipality a combined team of the police and the military was dispatched to the scene.

The group, which met the accused persons at various places setting houses on fire, managed to arrest some of them he had told the court. Mr Wiredu said a police identification parade was later organised and the complainants identified the eight accused persons.

The Supervising Judge reminded the jubilant crowd that the Municipality was still in a state of emergency and urged them not to do anything that would break the peace and asked the people to comport themselves notwithstanding the court's ruling. 18 Dec. 03

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