The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has conferred a posthumous promotion on the police inspector who was killed by some armed men who stormed the Kwabenya police station in January.

Inspector Emmanuel Ashilevi has been promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).

The Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia disclosed this at the funeral service being held for the deceased officer at the Atomic Hospital Park in Accra, Joy News' Latiff Iddris reports.

“The President through the Police Council has instructed that Chief Inspector Ashilevi is posthumously promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of police,” the vice president revealed.

Inspector Ashilevi was shot dead during a dawn raid by an armed gang who had stormed the Kwabenya police station to free a number of suspects held on remand at the Kwabenya cell.

The cordoned off police station after the incident 

The officer was said to be taking cover in a vehicle at the station when the armed group shot and killed him before freeing their colleagues.

In his speech, Dr Bawumia said the presidency is saddened by the officer’s death adding, “His death is a very painful one. He was a selfless patriot, he died in the line of duty, he died protecting the people of Ghana.”

According to Dr Bawumia, the Kwabenya incident and many others that have occurred in the past are of grave concern to the president and the government and measures are being put in place to ensure police officers and security agencies alike are given the protection they deserve.

In view of this, government, he said, has resolved to improve and sustain the general welfare of all police personnel.

Related: Kwabenya police attack: Cop killer arrested

“To support the service in its fight against crime and also to make funds available to the police administration to appropriately compensate all police personnel who get injured or even those who in the course of their normal and official duties lose their lives.

“The president has asked us to look at putting in place a package which is uniform for all the different ranks for policemen who die in the line of duty,” Dr Bawumia said.

In this regard, Inspector Ashilevi will be the first to receive a compensation package in an amount of GHS 185,374,085 which is intended to support his family and pay for his children’s education.

Inspector Ashilevi’s wife and children are to report to the police headquarters on Monday, March 5, 2018, to claim the package.

Related: Kwabenya police murder: 4 arrested, coffin, bones found at suspect house

In addition to the package, Dr Bawumia also disclosed that funds have been released to pay the compensation packages of 122 other police personnel who got injured or lost their lives in the line of duty.

The payment will cover all personnel who applied for compensation from 2002 until now.

Dr Bawumia said payment of all compensation should be done by the end of March 2018.

The Vice President further pledged that government will do everything to protect the memory of Inspector Ashilevi, adding, “he died fighting for the people of Ghana and must not be forgotten.”