The Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr, says he does not think protestors in Ejura were armed with guns as has been suggested by some top military officers.
“It cannot be true. Look, we’ve seen different types of videos. They were armed, maybe with machetes, knives, sticks, but nobody can convince me that they were armed with weapons firing at the military and the police. So I cannot be convinced,” he said.
This was in response to suggestions from the military that protesters armed with guns may have killed two protesters and wounded others after they had gathered on July 29 following the funeral of a social activist who had died a day earlier.
Appearing before the committee leading an inquiry into the violence, the Commanding Officer of the 4th Infantry Battalion, Lt. Col. Kwesi Ware Peprah, said his men who had been called in to manage the situation did not fire on the protesters.
The General Officer Commanding of the Central Command also said his men were forced to fire into the crowd with the idea to main and not to kill, after some gunshots were heard among the protesters.
But Mr. Baako on Joy FM’s Newsfile on Saturday, July 10, 2021, expressed his doubts about the suggestion from the military, saying they [military personnel] would have brought evidence before the committee to enforce their innocence in the matter.
“If it were true, they would have done that crime scene management and in the process would have located shells that would be part and parcel of their defence. They don’t have it. They didn’t send it because it doesn’t exist.”
We may have to exhume bodies of slain protesters
Kweku Baako Jnr on the show also said it is imperative that the source of the bullets that killed the two protesters is established.
“It’s a critical requirement that the bullet that killed them must be available because then we’ll be able to tell which gun shot that bullet”.
He further said the state may have to consider exhuming the body of the deceased protesters to unravel the truth.
“If we are not going to get the bullets that killed them because of a certain emergency situation, so we’ve buried the bullets together with the human bodies, my goodness, what are we doing? This is an exercise in futility then.”
Background
The violence in Ejura occurred during protests that followed the death of Ibrahim Muhammed.
Ibrahim Muhammed, alias Kaaka Macho, died after he was attacked by unknown assailants on June 27 while returning home.
He’s believed to have been killed because he was critical of the government.
The 45-year-old was noted to be vocal on both local and national issues using his Facebook page.
Police in the Ashanti Region have since arrested three persons in connection with his death and put them before the court.
Ibrahim Muhammed was buried on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, alongside the two others who died in the protest.
A ministerial committee is currently probing the disturbances. The committee is expected to complete its public hearings on Friday, July 16, 2021.
