A rice farmer and producer of Tongu Rice in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region was shot dead on his farm at Yorve, near Agordome.

Sina Peter believed to be in his mid-40s and owner of the Sinagro Guest House at Sogakope, was pronounced dead on arrival at the Sogakope District Hospital after he was shot by unknown gunmen on Monday, May 20, at around 7 pm.

Johnson Kobby Amedzo, the Assembly Member for Xikpo-Agbagorme Electoral Area and a friend of the deceased, revealed that Mr Peter and his workers were harvesting rice when the incident occurred.

He said the deceased, who also owned a rice mill site at Akakpokope near Dabala Junction, was shot after the assailants had shot one of his workers, known as Kafui, while they were packing the harvested rice into a vehicle.

“The deceased, after hearing gunshots and in an attempt to check who was shot during the act, met his untimely death as he was also shot," he said.

Mr Amedzo said Kafui was later transferred to the Ho Teaching Hospital where he is currently receiving medical attention and that the families of the deceased were liaising with the Sogakope Police for further information regarding the tragic incident.

He appealed to members of the public to volunteer information that would lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Sources suspected land litigation between the deceased and some other individuals may have triggered the action.

However, the Sogakope Police, when contacted, remained tight-lipped on the incident, only indicating that investigations were ongoing.

The deceased, also a former Marketing Manager of Brazil Rice, was married with four children; a boy and three girls.

The body has since been sent to the Sogakope District morgue awaiting autopsy.