Akatsi riot – Paramount Chief of Avenor calls for calm and justice
Togbe Dorglo Anumah VI, Paramount Chief and President of the Avenor Traditional Council, has called on the youth of Akatsi to exercise restraint and give peace a chance over the death of 22-year-old Etornam Avulekpor.
The deceased was alleged to have passed on while receiving medical treatment at the Ho Teaching Hospital as a result of police brutality after he was arrested.
“It is with a heavy heart that the Council learnt of the unfortunate demise of Etornam Avulekpor, under yet to be ascertained circumstances, in the central business District of Akatsi, Akatsi South Municipality, on Friday,” Mr Raphael Kofi Ameku, Secretary to the Avenor Traditional Council, said.
The statement follows a series of meetings by the chiefs after some youth of Akatsi massed up and attacked the Akatsi police station in an attempt to display their displeasure about the death of the deceased.
“The Council together with members of the security apparatus in the Municipality, led by Martin Kofitsey Nyahe, the Municipal Chief Executive, have been in touch with the bereaved family to express their condolences, and together urge for calm to prevail,” while efforts are still underway to calm tempers, restore order, and place Police-Civilian relationship in the Municipality back on the right footing.”
The Council also commended Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, the Volta Regional Minister, for his crucial role in coordinating the efforts of all stakeholders in seeking a quick resolution to the melee that ensued in the aftermath of the death of the young man.
“The Council want to reassure both the youth and the bereaved family of its determination to ensure that, in concert with other stakeholders, investigations are conducted and the appropriate remedial actions are taken, so that the death of Etornam Avulekpor would not be in vain.”