Did The Seven Manso Nkwanta Robbery Suspects Shoot At Close Range?

Zongo Chiefs in Kumasi say autopsy examination performed on four of seven suspected armed robbers gunned down by police indicate they were shot at close range.

Though the chiefs will not put out full details of the autopsy, Joy News sources say several bullets were removed from the bodies by pathologists.

General Secretary of National Association of Zongo Chiefs, Alhaji Shuabu Musah Shariff, says the association has grounds to believe that the long-held belief that the men were killed although they committed no offence.

"What I can say with certainty is that they were killed by gunshots and some were at a close range. I mean that is what they [doctors] said," according to Alhaji Shuabu Musah Shariff.

He, however, confirmed to Joy News that some of the persons killed by the police had as many as 16 pellets of bullets retrieved from their bodies.

"That is what they said. I don't know. I wasn't at the mortuary when they were undertaking the autopsy. They said that they retrieved a lot of pellets," he said.

The killing of the seven suspected robbers sparked public outrage, especially in the Zongo community.

Series of demonstrations were held, as the youth blocked roads and clashed with the police twice.

"The leadership met yesterday. We invited a lawyer from the Zongo; we invited a doctor from the Zongo and handed over [the autopsy report] so that they should go and sit down together and look. Based on the advice that they will give us, we will know whether we can bury the dead or we cannot bury them," he revealed.