Bunkprugu/Yunyo: Soldier faces murder charges

Police investigators at Bunkpurugu/Yunyo in the Northern Region have confirmed to Daily Guide that one Private Daniel Appiah, 26, will be brought back to the area to face murder charges.

The soldier with the 6th Infantry Battalion at Kamina Barracks in Tamale was on Sunday morning picked up by the Military Police for what they described as service enquiry into his actions which led to the death of a 36-year-old carpenter Jabiuk Duut in Bunkprugu.

Sources disclosed to Daily Guide that the Military Police had no jurisdiction to handle criminal cases and must therefore transfer the suspect back to Bunkpurugu for police to officially charge and arraign him before court.

The Military Detachment Commander, Lieutenant Eric Gbedemah, has assured the police the military command would cooperate with them and bring back the suspect as requested, to facilitate investigations and onward prosecution.

Emerging evidence compelled the Military Command to backtrack on its earlier stance that the deceased, prior to his death, was armed with a machete, and at a point tried disarming one of the armed military men which triggered the shot that killed him.

The Pathologist's report pointed to the fact that the deceased died due to loss of several pints of blood after being shot from behind in his right thigh which broke his thigh bone.

Medical findings seemed to have corroborated claims Dickson Labik, brother of the deceased, that he was unarmed at the time their home was surrounded by the armed military men who shot him through the window.

According to Dickson, when his brother realised that he was being chased by the soldiers, he tried to hide between two sacks of maize in his room, but was spotted by suspect Daniel Appiah, who shot him at close range and left him to bleed to death.

Though Jabiuk Duut was buried late last Sunday, his kinsmen are demanding justice for his death - a situation which was said to be mounting tensions in the already volatile area after fighting broke out a fortnight ago, leading to the death of two persons.