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‘Soldier’ shot dead

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Family members and several kinsmen of Mohammed Adam Akologo alias 'Soldier', the man who was gunned down by the police at Klagon near Tema, yesterday stormed the Police Hospital in Accra to receive the body of their son. The police had described 'Soldier' as an unidentified suspected armed robber who had been killed in a shoot-out during an anti-robbery operation. Me was also said to be an alleged notorious gun runner and one- time suspect in the perennial Bawku conflict in the Upper East Region. But his kinsmen, who had traveled from Bawku, Kumasi and Accra, besieged the hospital in loads of Benz buses, private cars and on motorbikes, protesting the police claim. The body of the deceased, hospital sources informed DAILY GUIDE, would not be released until a postmortem was done today. In fury, the family members said their son had been a genuine businessman who had never stolen even a pin in his life. A member of the group who said he was an assembly member in Bawku, Alhassan Abubila, said they believed the killing of their brother was connected to the Bawku conflict. According to him, a feuding faction in the conflict had connived with the police and had hidden the mobile phone of their kinsman to conceal the identity of an informant in the robbery claim. The family of the deceased, Mr. Abubila stated, wanted to know the type of bullets that killed their man and how many were sprayed into his body before they take their next line of action. On Monday, some family members of the deceased who said they were Kusasis besieged the Police Hospital, protesting their kinsman was neither a gun runner nor an armed robber. They said they were shocked at the allegation by the police because their brother was a peace-loving person, calling for investigations into the incident. "We know what is going on," Lukman Akologo, a brother of the deceased said, warning that if the investigations did not go well, they would take the law into their own hands. A lawyer for the family, Abraham Amaliba, indicated that they were awaiting the autopsy report before they would file a petition to the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and Attorney-General's office for a declaration that their kinsman was killed illegally. 'Soldier' allegedly found a new business of gun trading after he was fingered in the murder of some Mamprusis during the Bawku conflict in April 2008. DAILY GUIDE learnt 'Soldier' was later granted bail at the Bolgatanga High Court. As at press time on Tuesday, all attempts to contact Cletus Avoka, one-time lawyer of Soldier, to speak on the nature of his former client proved futile as calls and text messages sent to his phone received no response. DAILY GUIDE learnt 'Soldier' had allegedly been supplying guns to groups of armed robbers including those who purportedly attacked the Tema branch of the Light 1 louse Chapel last month where a pastor was shot and another armed robber gunned down while attempting to snatch a ear from a church member. Some of these Tema armed robbers, DAILY GUIDE learnt, were arrested by police and during interrogation, they mentioned 'Soldier' as the one who supplied them with guns. DAILY GUIDE gathered that in order to arrest Soldier, the police posed as persons who wanted to purchase guns from him. The two parties arranged and met under a bridge at Klagon for the transaction on Friday, September 17, 2010. The suspect later abandoned the deal and ran away when he discovered that the people he wanted to transact with were not armed robbers but undercover police personnel. It was in his attempt to run away that the police shot and killed him instantly. However, briefing the media. ACP Augustine Gyening, Tema Regional Police Commander described "Soldier" as an unidentified suspected armed robber who had been killed by police in a shoot-out. He said while the police were engaged in an operation on Friday in Tema Manhean, they got information about a man robbing people in the Lashibi-Klagon area. Consequently, a patrol team was dispatched to the area and on seeing the police, the man lied on an unregistered motorbike. ACP Gyening said the man pulled out a rifle from his double smock and fired at the police after he was given a hot chase. He claimed personnel returned lire and in the ensuing cross-fire, the man was hit and killed instantly. Source: Daily Guide

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.