The Bortianor Traditional Council has petitioned Parliament to look into the incident of the five people who were shot and murdered by police at Akwasa Hill in Bortianor, and were thought to be landguards in the Ga South Municipality.
The Council is requesting that MPs look into the situation immediately. On Thursday, June 8, 2023, the suspects were killed in a shootout with the police following an alleged attack on employees of an estate development company. They were shot by the police officers who had set up an ambush, with four additional suspects ending up being hurt.
Following the police killing of the five people, Nii Kojo Mensah, Mankralo of Bortianor, claimed that the act has drawn intense criticism from the traditional authority in Bortianor.
“We need to know exactly what happened to those individuals who were shot by the police. The entire community is asking questions. That is why we decided to petition Parliament to investigate the matter.”
Nii Kojo Mensah
According to the authorities, the suspects had been terrorizing locals and homes in Bortianor and the surrounding areas. Some locals have disputed these assertions, claiming that some of the people killed were regular citizens rather than landguards.
Parliament To Probe Police Brutality
The Leadership of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee and the House’s Committee on Defence and Interior have been instructed to investigate the shooting incident involving the Bortianor Police that claimed five lives.
Andrew Asiama Amoako, Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament gave them the order to provide their report to the House by the end of June 2023.
Sylvester Matthew Tetteh, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bortianor-Ngleshie Amanfro, made the request for a parliamentary investigation into the police brutality that resulted in the deaths of five people in his constituency, and Mr. Amoako gave the order while presiding over the House.
Mr. Tetteh stated in his address on the House floor that the five people who were shot and killed by the police in broad daylight at Bortianor, according to a report from the community, were not land guards, but rather sand winners. He said this was because the community recognized them to be such.
Abraham Tetteh Wayo (also known as Brother), Augustine Nii Kwei (also known as Dada Joe), Daniel DK, Joseph Amoakwando, and an unnamed field member who worked in the area, were the five people who are dead, as stated by the MP.
He claimed that the sad event had caused an unsettling stillness in the neighborhood.
The MP requested that Parliament launch an investigation into the situation on behalf of his constituents, after learning that the residents of Kokrobite and Bortianor had denied the Police’s assertion.
“We believe strongly that an inquiry will bring out the truth of this matter and bring calm to the people of my Constituency.”
Sylvester Matthew Tetteh
He advised the residents of Bortianor, Kokrobite, and the surrounding area to maintain their composure and continue to uphold the law as the appropriate state agencies took up the case to investigate and uncover the truth.
James Agalga, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) member for Bulsa North and Ranking Member for the Parliamentary Select Committee for Defence and Interior, supported Mr. Tetteh’s plea for a parliamentary investigation into police violence in Bortianor in his contribution.
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