Tension rises at Asawase over police killings

Tension is mounting at Aboabo in the Asawase Constituency, in the Ashanti Regional capital, following the killing of two alleged armed robbers in the area by the police.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase, who doubles as minority chief whip, Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka made this known to parliament yesterday.

Muntaka said that people from his constituency were devastated by the death of the two men – Mohammed Lukman and Awudu Osman.

The family is also demanding justice over the deaths of the two suspects.

The police said in Kumasi on Thursday that the suspects were members of a robbery syndicate which include Emmanuel Fosu, Farouk Amadu and Saliu Yakubu – all in police custody.

The three suspects, the police narrated, had earlier been arrested in an operation at their hideout at Dichemso, another Kumasi suburb, for their involvement in various armed robberies in Kumasi.

The minority chief whip raised the issue on the floor of the house after the business statement for next week was read.

According to him, the death of the two people had led to tension in his constituency as the youth of Aboabo had pledged to avenge the killings.

Mr Muntaka said he did not understand why the police should kill the two while they were in their custody, after three other suspected armed robbers arrested earlier had mentioned their names as the ones who had been supplying them with firearms for armed robbery operations.

The Asawase MP has appealed to the speaker to summon the minister for the interior to brief the house on the circumstances that led to the shooting of the two men.

The police in Kumasi have said that the two were shot as they attempted to escape with handcuffs on their hands.

According to the police, the two suspects led the police to four separate locations in the Asawase area to retrieve firearms that were being hidden there but nothing was found until finally they led them to a storey building house at Sepe where a pistol was retrieved.

The Kumasi Police explained that when they went to search the building, the two, in separate hand-cuffs, jumped down in an attempt to escape but the police shot at them, killing one of them instantly and the other dying on arrival at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

Mr Muntaka Mubarak told parliament that his frantic calls to the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, the Interior Minister and the National Security Minister following the news of the killing of the two, were to no avail.

The incident was finally confirmed to him by a deputy interior minister, who said the duo had been aiding the police with investigation, but were shot when they tried to escape.

The MP appealed to the Speaker of Parliament to summon the minister for the interior to appear before the people’s representatives to brief them on the incident.

Joseph Osei-Owusu, first deputy speaker of parliament, directed that the minister of the interior appear before the house by November 22, 2017 to explain the circumstances leading to the death of the two men in the custody of the police.

The minister, Ambrose Dery, would have to tell Ghanaians why Awudu Usman and Lukman Mohammed, suspected to be armed robbers, were shot dead while in police custody.