Sogakope Murder: Police Call For Calm, Assistance

The Volta Regional Police Command has called on the angry youth of Sogakope in the South Tongu District to cease fire and assist them to investigate the cause of the rising tension in the area.

There was uneasy calm in the town on Monday after the irate youth blocked roads for the second time to protest the killing of their Assembly Member, Marcus Adzahli.

Police officers also had to fire warning shots to disperse protestors who besieged the Sogakope police station.

The police opened fire after protestors started pelting stones at the officers.

Growing anger

An opinion leader, Maxwell Lukutor, in a Citi News interview, attributed the riots to a wave of growing anger among residents over the seeming insecurity in the area.

“The issue is about the insecurity here. Everybody is of the view that if this can happen to someone with security doors in his house, then those who are not up to his standard are scared. The same thing can happen to us. So it is not about we ordering the police but rather what we are feeling about the spontaneous actions from their negative training.”

Police ask for support

The Volta Regional Police Command is, however, urging the youth to channel their energies into helping the police maintain peace and to investigate the crime at stake.

Public Relations Officer of the Command, Corporal Prince Dogbatse in an interview on Eyewitness News said that: “I was with the Deputy Regional Commander who engaged the same youth and gave them the assurance of the police. So in barely 24 hours, they go on the rampage again, what is the justification for it. Security is a shared responsibility so we will encourage the opinion leaders of the town to call the youth to order and urge them to support the police investigations because a life has been lost. We need all of them on board to fight a common cause and provide security to all of them.”

Marcus who doubles as a mobile money merchant was shot and killed at his residence last Sunday.

The assailants reportedly stormed the victim's house whilst firing gunshots.

He was eventually found with multiple bullets and stab wounds.

Meanwhile, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of the South Tongu local assembly in the Volta Region, Emmanuel Luis Agamah has put a GHS10,000 bounty on the heads of perpetrators involved in the murder.

---citinewsroom