Lance Corporal Johnson Dzikunu, the policeman who allegedly shot one person dead and seriously wounded four others at Akyem Ayirebi in the Eastern Region, has been remanded in police custody by the Akyem Swedru Circuit Court. The accused, whose plea was not taken, will reappear before the court, presided over by Mr Emmanuel Kwame Besompem Apenkwah, on March 3, 2008. L/Cpl Dzikunu was said to have fired into a group of people after more than 2,000 people from 36 communities had peacefully demonstrated at Ayirebi against the sitting of the capital of the newly created Akyemmansa District at Akyem Ofoase. The body of the deceased, 32-year-old Yakubu Grushie, has been deposited at the morgue at the Oda Government Hospital, awaiting autopsy. The injured - Osei Asomaning, 60, the Ayirebi Unit Committee Chairman; Kwadwo Amankwah, 52, a farmer; Kwabena Daniel, 19, a barber, and Kwaku Akosomo, a 14-year-old pupil of the Victory Preparatory School in Accra, who was in the town to mourn his dead father - are responding to treatment at the same hospital. Prosecuting, the Oda Divisional Crime Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Emmanuel Arsah Mammalier, stated that at about 6.30 p.m. on February 16, 2008, the youth of Ayirebi embarked on a demonstration against the siting of the capital of the newly created Akyemmansa District at Ofoase. He said in the process, the angry demonstrators allegedly blocked the Oda-Ofoase main road with pieces of logs and wooden planks. According to him, the three policemen at the Ayirebi Police Station, led by the Station Officer, Inspector Benyingi, moved in to stop the demonstrators and protect lives and property but they were allegedly met with the throwing of stones and other missiles. DSP Mammalier said in an attempt to stop them, L/Cpl Dzikunu fired warning shots and some of the stray bullets hit and killed Yakubu and injured four other persons. He stated that the injured persons were rushed to the Oda Government Hospital, where they were admitted, adding that they were currently responding to treatment. The prosecutor said L/Cpl Dzikunu was arrested that night and placed in police custody at Oda on the orders of the Oda Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ben Atadana. He said l/Cpl Dzikunu was facing prosecution because there was enough evidence that he shot and killed the deceased. DSP Mammaliet stated that a colleague of UCpl Dzikunu's, General Constable Daniel Dorkenoo, who was initially arrested with the former and placed in police custody in connection with the shooting incident, had been granted police inquiry bail. Source: Daily Graphic