Family of slain Amofa threatens legal action

The family of a 27-year-old man, Emmanuel Amofa, allegedly murdered by personnel of the Ghana Police Service patrol team, has threatened to take a legal action.

Emmanuel, a resident of Agbogba, a suburb of Accra, reportedly met his untimely death at about 1:00 am on Monday, April 16, 2018. He was allegedly shot and killed by the patrol team.

The police had claimed that the victim was an aggressive armed robber.

Greater Accra Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Afia Tenge, is reported to have said that the patrol team spotted three men – Emmanuel and his two friends named Richard and Kwame Baah – smoking in front of a drinking spot and accosted them.

According to her, the police after some interrogations, decided to search the suspects and found a locally manufactured pistol strapped to the waist of Emmanuel Amofa.

She stated that whiles the search was being conducted Amofa kicked the policeman and attempted to scale a wall close to the drinking spot.

ASP Tenge added that the police shot the suspect as he tried scaling the wall, and fell dead.

But addressing the media in Accra yesterday, the bereaved family debunked the claim by the police, saying it was a calculated attempt to cover up the gruesome killing of an innocent young student who had attended a funeral in the company of some of his friends on Sunday, April 15.

Elder sister of the victim, Nana Akua Amofa, told journalists that Emmanuel had never in his entire life held a gun and that he was not an armed robber as claimed by the police.

She said her younger brother and his friends were subjected to undue beatings and torture by the police; and when he attempted to scale the wall of his father’s carpenter friend’s house to seek refuge, the police opened fire behind him.

According to her, Emmanuel managed to scale the wall and entered the house of his father’s friend but the police followed him there and despite his plea for mercy, he was murdered in cold blood. She has therefore, tasked the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to initiate an investigation into the matter and bring the ‘killer’ cops to book to face the law.

A number of Emmanuel’s friends who were touched by his murder, attended the press conference, wielding placards with inscription “Murder & Pain.”