The MP for Nkoranza South, Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, and members of his constituency are demanding justice for a man who is said to have died in police custody sometime in April.
The deceased, Albert Donkor, reportedly witnessed a robbery incident on the Nkoranza-Kintampo road. He allegedly identified a police officer known in the area as a member of the robbery gang.
The 28-year-old man is said to have later told the tale to a couple of friends, leading to his untimely death, under very mysterious circumstances residents say.
When the police got wind of Albert’s tale, he was reportedly picked up from his mother’s residence at Kasadjan in the Nkoranza South Municipality at dawn on Monday, 25 April 2022.
He was invited to the police station on suspicion of the same robbery on the Nkoranza- Kintampo road he had witnessed.
The deceased was denied access to legal representation and his family members.
A follow-up to the police station showed Albert never turned up at the station as had earlier been indicated by officers who picked him up at his mother’s residence.
News later emerged of his death. The police are yet to release an official statement to that effect.
Meanwhile, in a statement, MP for Nkoranza South Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum has condemned the actions and inactions of the police.
“This is indeed an epidemic of injustice. The people of Nkoranza cannot stay silent when innocent Albert Donkor has been targeted and killed. Given the near-instantaneous ability to arrest suspected criminals, the responsibility to accurately and lawfully arrest takes on an unprecedented importance.
“The speculative and often uninformed initial reporting that characterises eyewitnesses appears to be rapidly becoming the standard of the Ghana Police Service. What is the justification for arresting a civilian at his residence and subjecting him to torture causing his death, and not that the death occurred as a result of a gun battle at the crime scene?
“The rambling explanation given by the police that the victim was shot by the robbers when the victim led the police to arrest the other suspects at a ghetto is untenable and cannot be accepted by the people of Nkoranza South as the same excuse was given in the bullion van robbery case at Ashaiman,” he said.
The Nkoranza South legislator stressed that the situation has left the town in utter disbelief and is indeed a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within the Ghana Police Service.
“In fact, with this culture of policing, there is no question that Ghana is living a nightmare with no end in sight,” he added.
He tasked the police service to let the people of Nkoranza know the competent court that sanctioned the killing of Albert Donkor.
Mr Agyekum further called on the President, Ministers of State, colleague MPs, human rights organisations, and the clergy to add their voice to this clarion call to demand justice for Albert Donkor.