PRESS RELEASE ON THE PURPORTED ROBBERY REPORTAGE IN EJURA BY THE POLICE SERVICE ON 09/10/2023
Good day ladies and gentlemen of the media. It is with deepest regret from the families of Alhaji Wahab Suleiman, Ibrahim Abubakar and Issahaku Salisu that our brother General Sergeant Ahmed Kamal passed on in an unfortunate circumstance. We therefore extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of the deceased and the Ghana Police Service and pray Allah render him his bountiful mercies and grant him Jannatul firdaus Insha Allah. May we all meet our maker in Jannah with you Ahmed Kamal.
May Allah grant patience to the bereaved family throughout this painful loss of their loved one.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media, we are however disturbed by the troubling press release by the Police Service on the 11th of October 2023 around 7:36PM on their Facebook Wall and other media platforms which is full of factual inaccuracies. Hence our wish to take this opportunity to dispel the wrong message sent out there for public consumption by the Police Service.
Looking at the worrying heading of the Police press release which goes like ‘TWO SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY FOR PREPARING TO COMMIT ROBBERY AND ATTACKING POLICE OFFICERS’
Whilst commiserating with the bereaved family, We wish to highlight the factual inaccuracies in this regard.
- Alhaji Wahab is a law abiding citizen, largely regarded as amongst the top three large scale farmers within the Ejura/sekyedumase Municipality. He’s financially sound and takes care of a large family.
- Abubakar and Sualisu are equally decent in their lives who work on their farms and their private businesses to earn a
living and cannot be said to be armed robbers because they are not. - Alhaji Wahab has been assisting the Ejura Police almost on every market days patrolling the route of Sarkyi Kura in his capacity as a Youth Chief to ensure the safety of his people and their properties safeguarded.
- The three in custody are decent men with integrity who lived their lives well to the attestation of all within Ejura and the country at large.
- Alhaji Wahab on Monday 9th of October 2023 received a distress call from a resident of Sarkyi Kura that heavily built men had invaded the road dressed in dreadlocks, earrings and holding arms. Upon hearing that, he immediately called the Municipal Police Commander (Chief Superintendent Bismark Achaab) to inform him about a report of armed robbers on the road and impressed on him to send his men to quell the robbery attack. Most usually, the police on their operations on the road will involve Alhaji Wahab since he is from the village.
- He then asked one of his labourers, Abubakar Ibrahim to pick him on his motorbike in the company of one Salisu as he always does when incidents of that nature are reported to him.
They went out to wait for the police on his junction to Sarkyi Kura, just as he got there, about three hundred metres away from his house in Ashaakoko, he saw an unlicensed blue-black saloon car parked in the middle of the road and it looked suspicious especially at that time of the hour.
He stood behind the car for some time and realized the car was parked and so he decided to move on. Just when he was about manoeuvring his way pass the car, he heard a gunshot from unseen men who laid ambush behind and he fell off from the motorbike and realized he was hurt on his left leg.
He then saw the shooters move towards him with their guns and felt they were coming to finish him so he fired back in self defence. Then the police patrol team arrived and took him and the labourer to the hospital who also sustained a gunshot on his hip. - We implore you the media to ascertain the veracity of this information to unearth the truth in this whole matter to get the public and family of the deceased well informed.
The Ghana Police Service issued an uninformed press release on this subject matter and we as a family of the three suspects want to set the records straight.
Firstly the Police in their press release stated that they had gathered Intel there were going to be a supposed robbery attack on a Mobile Money Vendor in Ejura and the presence of the said men were to quell the said incident.
Let’s even assume without admitting it was true. The incident happened at a place where there is no Mobile Money Vendor anywhere near the place.
Secondly, we are reliably informed the said Police Officers did not inform the Municipal Police Command about their presence in the municipality. So where did they gather the Intel from? Besides there was Police Patrol Team on the road that day through to the night, why didn’t they make their presence known to them?
Why did the Police decide to hide their official operation vehicle in the bush at the entrance of Ejura and used an unlicensed saloon car for operations? There are more mysteries to this that the media needs to assist us demystify it.
Which MOMO Vendor or Vendors made an official complaint to the Police Service over the said robbery attack.
We want to state without mincing words that the MOMO robbery quell story was an afterthought and was made to cover up for their operational deficiencies.
Thirdly, they claim there was a shootout between the police and armed robbers and led to the killing of our brother General Sergeant Ahmed Kamal. That is also a total falsehood reading from the narration we made on how it all happened on the night of October 9th 2023.
With all due respect to the police administration, our brothers are men with integrity and are NOT armed robbers but Alhaji in particular is an informant of the Police who have been assisting them in many ways in curbing crime within the municipality.
Also, they said in their release two suspect were arrested and one on the run. That’s also a total fabrication of facts by the police. The three suspects all reported to the Ghana Police Service in Ejura on their own volition and were told to go to Mampong Regional Office for their statement to be taken for investigation to commence, and were all detained after.
Finally, the police in court charged the suspects for conspiracy to commit murder and murder and not robbery as was alleged in their press statement.
RECOMMENDATION - We want to use this medium to tell the IGP to monitor and review the operations of the Police Investigative Department (PID). Since their operations is causing a lot problems in the Police Service. Because any Ghanaian that will meet them in the middle of the bush with no uniform wielding guns will mistake them for armed robbers
- We urge the government to intervene and free our brothers.
We finally again express our sincerest regret with the unfortunate demise of our brother, General Sergeant Ahmed Kamal. May
Allah be pleased with his soul and grant him Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen
Find below the police statement on the incident
