One dead, eight injured in gun attack at Adome

One person has been shot dead with eight others sustaining various degrees of injury on Saturday October 27, 2023 at Adome, a suburb of Odumase Krobo in the Eastern Region.

Information gathered indicates that armed individuals associated with one faction of a chieftaincy conflict were partaking in a procession through the streets of the community, featuring a palanquin and accompanied by musketry.

It became increasingly dangerous on the durbar grounds because the sporadic gunfire was live ammunition. This was at the climax of the Ngmayem festival.

According to reports, the deceased, a 55-year-old  Emmanuel Tetteh Narh, also known as Ozibo, was identified by one of the gunmen and subsequently shot.

Ozibo left behind a wife and four children.

It is reported that Ozibo was shot near his house.

According to an eyewitness who doubles as a nephew to the deceased, Robert, he was at home with the deceased around 7 a.m. when they heard sporadic gunshots by the roadside.

Despite his warning to his uncle about the danger, the deceased ventured out, only to be targeted and shot by one of the gunmen identified as Tackie.

The assailants pursued Robert, but he managed to escape.

Another eyewitness stated that the assailants specifically targeted the deceased.

“When they got there, one of the men pointed to him (the deceased) and said, ‘that’s Ozibo,’ and they shot him.”

The violence continued as the procession moved about half a kilometre, where the procession was confronted by a niece of the deceased, Jasmine Dede Narh, and a male neighbour.

The assailants indiscriminately fired shots, injuring eight bystanders, including a Prisons Officer.

Jasmine Dede Narh recounted the terrifying ordeal, describing how six men stopped their car and assaulted the driver before pointing a gun at her.

“As soon as we turned towards the Lasi area, they started shooting the car so I told the driver to stop and he stopped, I saw some goons, about six of them, they pointed the gun at the driver so he raised his hands,”

Some youth of the Adome community managed to apprehend one of the gunmen who after severe battering told his captors upon interrogation that he was a Dodowa-based driver and “had no idea what he got involved in”.

This individual, identified as Effah Samuel, claimed to be a trotro driver from Dodowa and insisted the happenings at the durbar were not out of design but spontaneous.

Police personnel from the Odumase police station subsequently arrived on the scene and rescued the alleged gunman, who is currently receiving treatment at a hospital under police supervision.

The body of the deceased has been placed in the mortuary of St. Martin’s De Porres Hospital, while the injured victims are also receiving treatment at the same facility.

The incident has renewed tension in the community.