Nigerian shot dead in Ghana left to rot in mortuary – Brother recounts

A Nigerian man, Greatness Efe Agbabule, living in Accra, Ghana, has decried the brutal circumstances that led to the death of his younger sibling at the hands of the Ghanaian police on Saturday, July 18, 2020, at Liberian Camp, Kasoa, a suburb in Accra.

The deceased, Precious Agbabule was shot twice, in the shoulder and leg by a police officer from the Weija Police Command after he [Precious] reportedly wielded a cutlass in a manner that suggested he could be of harm to himself and onlookers.

Widely reported by local media, the incident brought to bear the harsh realities facing Nigerians in Ghana. It also re-affirmed the perceived rot at the base of the relationship between Ghana and Nigeria.

One month after the unfortunate demise of Precious, Greatness told Mynigeria.com that members of the Ghanaian police frustrated his plans to take the deceased body from the mortuary – leaving it to rot. He explained that he was required to pay $300 (N115,302) per night at a mortuary in Accra to keep the corpse.

“When we went to the mortuary, I couldn’t find my brother’s body. They had to look for it before someone brought it from one side of the room,” he told Mynigeria.com.

“When he was brought out, I saw like two hundred flies, maggots on him. Everyone ran out of the mortuary including me because he was smelling,” he lamented.

“The only way I recognized him was through a birthmark he had on his jaw,” he added.

Prior to this, Greatness had told the news team that the Kasoa Police Command went contrary to its promise to the family that an autopsy will be done a month after Precious’ death, a promise Greatness said the police never kept.

He explained that at the time he was scheduled to see his late brother, the police had carried out an autopsy on the body. He later condemned the knife-cuts after the unapproved autopsy.

Greatness said that all he wants from the Ghanaian government is a probe into the issue and further sanctioning of the officer who carried out the dastardly act.

He said that Ghanaian authorities haven’t shown concern to him, the widow of his two months old nephew.

“We have been told there is an investigation going on,” he said angrily. “We don’t care about the investigation, what we know is that what killed my brother is Ghana police which is Ghana government.

“So, the police doing their investigations do not concern us, all we want is justice because the policeman who shot this boy was not arrested, he wasn’t detained at all,” he added.