Assailants Gun Down Policeman On Patrol

Two unidentified gunmen on a motorbike have shot and killed a police officer, who was also riding a motorbike, while on patrol duties at Michel Camp near Tema.

The ghastly murder happened at about 9.30pm at the UBA filling station along the Michel Camp road, when the deceased, identified as Constable Micheal Kporyi, was shot.

The Tema Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Joseph Benefo Darkwah, told the media in Tema yesterday, that police officers on duty at the Tulaku Old Barrier check point, called the Tema Police Command Information Room with the report that two unidentified armed men on a motorbike had shot dead a colleague.

Upon the information, a patrol team rushed to the scene, where it found the deceased as Constable Kporyi, with identification number 51475, lying in a nearby bush in a pool of blood.

ASP Darkwah said eyewitnesses stated that the deceased, who was in uniform, was seen riding a motorbike with registration number GP4350, with an AK47 rifle slung across his chest.

The eyewitnesses continued that they saw two armed men, also riding a motorbike behind the policeman shoot the deceased and sped off. The deceased fell into a nearby gutter.

ASP Darkwah said an inspection of the deceased body showed multiple gun wounds on the chest and eyebrow. Besides, one AK47 rifle, one pepper spray, a pair of handcuffs and a torch light were found on the deceased.

The remains of the deceased have been conveyed and deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy. He said that an extract of occurrence would be prepared for the information of the Regional Crime Officer to initiate a full scale investigation into the incident.

This gruesome killing happened barely a day after the United Nations (UN) and Small Arms Commission of Ghana had disclosed that about 2.3 million unregistered arms are in circulation in Ghana.

In view of the worrying disclosure, the UN Ghana Resident Coordinator, Christine Evans-Klock, charged Ghana to endeavour to tackle the proliferation of small arms and light weapons.

To her, such weapons have the potential of fueling violence in the country, therefore, the need for Ghana to fight the trade, in order to become a resilient and robust economy to propel national development.

"A vibrant economy has always depended on a country that is able to deal with the menace of small arms and light weapons," Christine Evans-Klock explained.

Jones Borteye Applerh, Executive Secretary of National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons, also noted that the increase in the number of guns in the hands of civilian posed a threat to the peace and security of the country, and called on the Ministry for the Interior to seal all loopholes that traffickers capitalise on to smuggle weapons into the country.

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