Police in Ejura in the Ashanti Region has secured an injunction against a planned one-year anniversary prayer for victims of the Ejura shooting.
As part of preparations to honour the victims, families who had formed a committee called the ‘Joint Committee of Victims of Ejura Incidents’ wanted to hold an event on Thursday, 30 June 2022, to show their love and respect for the dead and other victims.
They also planned to clean the cemetery where the victims had been buried and build a tombstone over the graves.
However, the Ejura District Court has issued a directive restraining the organisers from holding the ceremony.
Although the families were disappointed and unhappy with the turn of events, they said they had no option but to comply with the court order.
“We regret to inform you and the general public that we have just received an ex parte injunction obtained by the Ghana Police Service to stop the families of the victims of the Ejura killings from going ahead with the Islamic prayers and Quran recitals that were planned for their departed loved ones on Thursday, 30 June 2022.
“We are shocked to find that our courts are now being used to prevent us from mourning our dead relatives and performing the necessary customary and religious rites to observe their killing by the military.
“Nothing can fully describe the pain we feel in this moment. Our families are broken and devastated by this act of insensitivity and moral injustice,” a statement from the family said.
The family is expected to hold a press conference to announce their next line of action in the coming days.
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Background
Ibrahim Muhammed, also known as Kaaka, was a resident of Ejura who was believed to have been attacked by a mob.
He later died at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) due to injuries.
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, 27 June 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, 28 June 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 a post criticising the arrest of 15 members of the #TheFixCountry at the High Court Complex on 25 June.
In the aftermath of his death, scores of angry residents stormed the streets in Ejura to demand justice, but the peaceful demonstration turned chaotic leaving many injured.
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 2 July 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 accused persons are currently on bail.
The Committee of Inquiry
The three-member committee of inquiry was announced on Thursday, 1 July, by Interior Minister Ambrose Dery.
It comprised 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.
The committee has since submitted its report.
The 55-page report recommended the payment of adequate compensation to the families of two deceased persons who died in the protest – Abdul Nasir Yusif and Murtala Suraj Mohammed, as well as to Kaaka’s family.
It also recommended the structural expansion of the Ejura Police Station, as well as an increment in personnel to enable the police command to deal with such situations better in the future.
The report said Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Philip Kojo Hammond, should be transferred for incompetence and the fact that his relationship with the community had been damaged beyond repair.