‘You can’t kill my relative and give me money; punish the soldiers’ – Family of deceased relative

The family of the late Abdul Nasir Yussif, one of the two persons who died during the shooting by security personnel at Ejura in the Ashanti Region, say they will reject any compensation presented to the family by government.

The Ejura Committee report, which was released on Monday, among other things, recommended that the affected persons and families be compensated, without any indication of any severe punishment for those whose actions caused the two deaths and injuries to four persons, who were protesting against the death of a social activist.

In an interview with Citi News, Abdullai Abubakar, the brother of one of the two deceased persons, said they want the persons who killed their relative to be brought to book.

“We have gone through the report, and it is not in our favor because you can’t come and kill someone’s relative and give the family money and say it’s okay. This is why crime is continuing in this country every day because we are living in a system of impunity, that is what we want to stop.”

“Our problem is not money, so you want to compensate us for what? All we want is justice. We are not going to tale any money without trial. Will our relatives come back to life if we take the money.”

The committee that probed the disturbances, months ago, specifically named two deceased persons and three others injured to benefit from the compensation .

“The Committee recommends adequate compensation for the families of two deceased persons, namely, Abdul Nasir Yusif and Murtala Suraj Mohammed.”

“Adequate compensation must also be paid to other injured persons namely, Louis Ayikpa (20years), Awal Misbau (16 years), and Nasif Nuhu (30 years). These are the names known to the Committee”, the recommendations read in part.

The only sanctions were a recommendation for the removal of the MCE for the area, and perhaps the transfer of the Ejura Police Commander. There were no strong recommendations for actions against the military personnel who fired the shots or the Ashanti Regional Minister who called in the military.

In the case of the military, however, the Committee recommended that it “reviews the actions of the section on the ground, led by Lieutenant Martin Opoku Adusei, for the inappropriate use of force, and apply appropriate sanctions.”

---citinewsroom