Cop Stabbed

CONSTABLE MORO Zakari, 33, a dispatch rider of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) of the Police Service was yesterday stabbed to death by a man, Yaw Dotse, suspected to be mentally deranged.

The deceased and two policemen were responding to a distressed call from Madam Bertha De Gray, operator of De Gray Restaurant at Asylum Down in Accra when the incident happened.

The police had a call from the restaurant operator that they were under attack by a man holding two knives.

The policemen quickly organised themselves and rushed to the scene and in his attempt to disarm Dotse, Moro lost his balance and was stabbed in the neck by the assailant.

Constable Moro was quickly rushed to the Ridge Hospital in Accra but died on arrival.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE at the Ridge Hospital, Superintendent Nii Boi Bi Boi, the Regional Crime Officer, said the deceased was a dispatch rider who usually visited his colleagues at the Regional Headquarters during his lunch break.

He said it was during one of such breaks that one of his colleagues, identified as Ike, had a call on his mobile phone that Dotse had come to the restaurant, threatening customers.

Nii Bi Boi said Ike, Moro and a third policeman quickly mobilized themselves and moved to the scene to save the situation.

“Unfortunately, he was attacked and stabbed on the neck by the assailant and died on his way to the hospital,” he lamented.

Asked whether it was appropriate to respond to such calls without reporting the matter to superior officers first, Nii Boi Bi Boi said they were obliged to report first before taking any action, but stressed that in distressed cases it was important for policemen to rapidly respond before reporting to their superiors.

He noted that it was therefore not unusual with their action since they were responding to “life and death” situation.

The body of the deceased had been moved to the Police Hospital in Accra for autopsy.

As at the time of filing this story however, reports were that family members of the deceased had besieged the Ridge Hospital, ostensibly to collect the body for burial in line with Islamic tradition.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, Emmanuel Nii Ayikui Addy, son of Madam Bertha De Gray, alleged that Dotse had called at his mother’s restaurant with knives in his hand that he was looking for him (Emmanuel) to kill.

He said his elder brother called to warn him not to step at the restaurant since Dotse was waiting to kill him.

Addy therefore called Ike for assistance and Ike advised him to formally lodge a complaint with the Nima Police.

It was on their way to the Nima Police Station that another call came from the restaurant that Dotse had bought a bottle of Star Beer and after quaffing the stuff down, began to terrorise the customers.

The policemen and Addy quickly went to the restaurant and decided to talk to Dotse to abandon the idea of killing Addy.

Dotse rather became aggressive, according to Addy, and when Moro went forward to convince him, Dotse allegedly attacked and stabbed the dispatch rider on the neck.

The assailant then ran into hiding, but was later apprehended and sent to the Nima Police Station.

By Wisdom Peter Awuku