My 16-year-old son was shot on his way to buy food – Mother tells Ejura probe
The mother of a 16-year-old boy is unsure of the future that awaits her son since he has been left amputated following the June 29 violence that erupted in Ejura in the Ashanti Region.
Salamatu Mohammed who is the mother of the teenager, Mohammed Awal Misbawu, appeared before a tripartite committee tasked to probe the disturbances, on Tuesday, July 13.
Mohammed said her son was only going to buy food when he was shot by the military in his leg.
“My son told me he was going to buy food, and he saw some military men coming and suddenly, he fell down and lost consciousness. He told me, he regained his consciousness at the [Ejura Municipal] hospital.
“The next day, [a] doctor told us that he has referred my son to Duayaw Nkwanta Hospital. When we got there [Duayaw Nkwanta] around 4:00 pm, a doctor admitted [my son] and requested us to pay GHC1,500 for an operation to be conducted on my son.
“He was then taken to the theatre but the doctor said he couldn’t continue so we should send him to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). My son was admitted and taken to the theatre. A doctor [at KATH] said he couldn’t do anything about the leg unless he amputates it so as we speak, he is still at the hospital, and he has been amputated,” distraught mother narrated on Tuesday, July 13.
Asked if her son knew about the protest, Madam Mohammed said emphatically that her son was not part of the protesters, adding that he was only an apprentice mechanic.
The committee, which sympathised with her situation, asked if there was anything, in particular, she wanted the government to do in support.
She simply said: “He was fit with his two legs but now one of his legs has been amputated. I am pleading with the authorities to assist my son so that he can get daily bread for himself. From now onwards I don’t know what the life of my son would be”.
About the protests
Ibrahim Muhammed, also known as Kaaka, was a resident of Ejura who was believed to have been attacked by a mob. He later died due to injuries at KATH.
Witness accounts claim that the deceased was ambushed in front of his house when he was returning home on his motorbike at about 1:30 am on Sunday, June 27, 2021.
Ibrahim Muhammed was rushed to the Ejura Municipal Hospital to receive medical treatment after the attack.
He was later transferred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, where he died at midday on Monday, June 28, 2021, the Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Godwin Ahianyo, told the media at a press briefing.
Providing an account of the incident, the widow of the deceased, Sahada Hudu, said she found him in a pool of blood after the attack.
“I thought my husband was driving away goats from the house at the time. Little did I know that he was being attacked. We saw him in a pool of blood. The people bolted as soon as we opened the door to check what was happening,” she recounted.
Before his death, Ibrahim Muhammed, aged 45, took to social media, where he posted social critiques about the Ejura Municipality and other issues of national importance.
His last activity on Facebook was to share a post criticizing the arrest of 15 members of the #TheFixCountry at the High Court Complex on June 25.
In the aftermath of his death, scores of angry residents stormed the streets in Ejura to demand justice over the murder of Ibrahim Muhammed, aka Kaaka, a social activist.
Two shot dead, four hospitalised
Two protestors died while four others were left in critical condition after law enforcement officers shot into a crowd demonstrating over the death of Kaaka.
The other injured persons were taken to the Ejura Government Hospital for treatment.
Court Remands Three Suspected Killers Of Kaaka
Meanwhile, a District Court in Asokwa in the Ashanti Region on July 2 remanded three into police custody in connection with the murder of Kaaka.
Isaka Ibrahim, Fuseini Alhassan and Idi Mohammed, were slapped with conspiracy to commit a murder.
The three are to reappear on July 22, 2021.
The Committee of Inquiry
The three-member committee of inquiry was announced on Thursday, July 1, by Interior Minister Ambrose Dery.
It comprises George Kingsley Koomson, a judge in the Court of Appeal, international relations and security expert Prof. Vladimir Antwi-Danso, and Juliet Amoah, a media-tech innovator.
The tripartite committee was given a 10-day period with which to complete their investigations. This was later extended by a week.
The constitution of the committee followed a directive by President Nana Akufo-Addo to the Ministry of Interior to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of social activist Ibrahim Anyass Mohammed and others during a protest in Ejura.