Killings at Akatsi: Eyewitness narrates his account, alleges police want to cover up the truth

An eyewitness has narrated his side of happenings in Akatsi in the Volta region, from where a violent clash between some young men and some policemen led to the killing of two.

According to Selorm Ameza, who is also a resident of Akatsi, the police are the biggest culprits in the case.

He added that it was only after they rammed into a motorcycle carrying three boys that the situation escalated.

Earlier, GhanaWeb reported that two persons were reported dead in Akatsi in the Volta region following a clash between the police and the youth of the town on Sunday, April 10, 2022, morning.

According to Starr News sources, the youth of the town were rioting in a protest over the death of another young man who they believed died from police brutalities during a recent arrest made by the police.

But in a Facebook post, Selorm Ameza gave his own account of how things happened, stressing the point that the boys, contrary to claims, were not criminals.

“Setor had just gone out to buy Indomie and he met his friend #Nelly at the Indomie base. After eating they were going home when #Jemilu who is a friend and was riding alone on his motorcycle stopped to give them a lift to their destination.

“Setor sat at the back whiles Nelly sat in middle. And just about 100 meters into their journey they got stopped by the Police Van but then they didn’t stop and the Police Van chased them and allegedly rammed into them at top speed, smashing them against the metal barricades by the road.

“Setor who was sitting at the back is said to have fell backwards and smashed his head on the floor. The Police then took them to the Akatsi District hospital and handcuffed them to the bed. The Police further took their phones and prevented them from calling their families.

“Setor’s broken head was only bandaged and they delayed in attending to them for hours because they were branded as criminals,” he wrote.

Selorm Ameza further explained that it had to take the intervention of one of the other guys to get the attention of Setor’s family, but it became too late by the time he was transferred to Accra for treatment.

“It took Jemilu to speak to a nurse in the morning of the next day before She gave him her phone to call his father. It was then before help came and the doctors examined Setor and realized his case was serious so he was rushed to the Ridge Hospital in Accra where he died,” he added.

He alleged that it seems the police want to cover up the truth of the incident as it has quickly gone to repair the dent caused to its vehicle after it rammed into the boys on the motorcycle.

“The Police have quickly repaired the Police Van that rammed into the boys resulting in the death of one in the process. This is what the Youths of Akatsi saw as an attempt to tamper with evidence in order to cover up the issue and extent of the impact.

“So, some Youths went over to the fitting shop and took pictures that yesterday of the Police Van at the fitting shop. And today at the Police station they showed me the repaired Van.

“And the pictures would make [you] realize that they actually rammed into the boys at top speed cos the bumper of the Police Van was completely destroyed and their side mirror smashed,” he added.

He however called out the youth of Akatsi who were in the habit of pelting the police with stones and destroying properties belonging to them.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service is yet to officially release a statement on the case.