The Sheaga residents in the Talensi District, where an armed robbery suspect, Simon Yindoog Nawak, was recently gunned down by the Police say, an innocent man has been victimised.

According to them, the deceased had no criminal record.

The Police in the Upper East town shot and killed the 34–year-old at Kpatia for his alleged involvement in the killing of two Police officers at Zuarungu on the night of Wednesday, December 15. 

According to Upper East Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP David Fianko-Okyere, the suspect, now deceased, tried to escape when officers attempted to arrest him to assist in investigations.

At a community press conference at Sheaga, Assembly Member for the Sheaga Electoral Area, Michael Zoogah said, "If the intel we have gathered is true that the Police want to link his murder to the recent killing of the two Police officers at the market square in Zuarungu on the 15th December is anything to go by, we want to state emphatically without any equivocation that, the gentleman was on duty at work based on the records of the mining company, Earl Mining Group”.

“Assuming without admitting that in any case, there's a lead intelligence linking him to the culprits of such an ungodly act, why will you not rather apprehend him alive to aide you arrest the remaining perpetrators?”, the Assembly Member asked.

The people of Sheaga also said that Nawak did not resist arrest, contrary to the Police reports, adding that Nawak was a “peace maker and the bread winner of his extended family”.

They are therefore demanding an independent probe into the circumstances of his shooting.

The statement read by Michael Zoogah stated among other things that;

“By virtue of this, we demand the following to be acted upon immediately to curb the tragic situation;

1. Government to constitute an independent investigation committee to probe into the killing by making sure that community opinion leaders must form part of the constituted committee.

2. The family of the bereaved, especially his children and the widows must be taken care of by way of compensation for life.

When JoyNews asked for the Upper East Regional Police Command’s response to the claims by the people of Sheaga, ASP David Fianko-Okyere said the Police did not do anything unlawful, insisting that the suspect would not have been shot by Police, if he had not attempted to escape from arrest.

“The police will never go after anybody in town just because our personnel have been killed. We rely on information and this action was based on intelligence”, he said

“Anybody who is escaping arrest for such a first-degree felony; the Police have every right to ensure we apply the legal means to bring that person to book. The intention of the Police was to immobilize this person and it is the same Police who took him to hospital and the unfortunate happened”, ASP Fianko-Okyere added.

He encouraged the aggrieved family and friends to come to the Police with any information that could prove the innocence of the deceased suspect.

“If there is any family member who has any information regarding this issue, we welcome such a person to visit the Upper East Regional CID and we will process all that [information]”, the Upper East Regional Police PRO said.  

He said Police intelligence had uncovered that Nawak was possibly one of the robbers on the fateful night when General Constable Emmanuel Akowuah and General Constable Adam Sulley were shot and killed at the armed robbery scene, with one of their bodies partially burnt by flames from their exploded patrol motorbike.

On the night of Wednesday, December 15, 2021, Police received distress calls that a robbery was taking place at the Zuarungu market square in the Bolgatanga East District of the Upper East Region.

While a Police team was being prepared at the Zuarungu Police station to move to the scene, the two deceased officers who had earlier reported at the station for their regular patrol duties, arrived at the scene of the robbery. They are believed to have been oblivious of the robbery at the time of their arrival, when the robbers fired at them.

ASP David Fianko-Okyere explained that when the suspect, Simon Yindoog Nawak was spotted by the Police officers and tailed to a drinking spot at Kpatia, he ignored verbal warnings from them and tried to abscond.

This forced the officers to shoot with the intent of immobilizing him for arrest. But the suspect died while on treatment in the hospital.

“The Anti-Armed Robbery Squad together with the Upper East Region Police Command had a lead that one of the suspects who committed the crime was hiding in a community called Kpatia in the Talensi District”, ASP Fianko-Okyere told JoyNews.

He added, “we moved in and we actually met this gentleman with a pillion rider on a motorbike who just arrived and entered into a particular spot – a beer bar. On seeing the Police, this gentleman took to his heels, Police gave him verbal warning to stop so we [could] engage him but he still decided to embark on his action of trying to flee from the Police or prevent Police from arresting him. Police fired at him to immobilize him so that we can effect his arrest”.

ASP David Fianko-Okyere said they took the suspect to the hospital where he died while receiving treatment.