IGP George Akuffo-Dampare
The Ghana Police Service has commenced a manhunt for two gunmen who allegedly shot and killed two off-duty policemen at East Trasacco in Accra on Thursday, May 2.
In a post on Facebook on Thursday evening, the police said the shooting occurred around 6:00pm.
“The Ghana Police Service is on a manhunt for two gunmen who fatally shot two off-duty Police officers sitting in front of their private residence at Block Factory, East Trasacco, Accra, today Thursday, May 2, 2024 at about 6:00pm,” the post read.
According to the police statement, the gunmen “did not take anything from the victims and sped off on a motorbike.”
The statement said, “An intelligence-led operation to get the suspects arrested is currently ongoing.”
This comes barely three days after a military officer was killed at Kasoa Millennium City in the Central Region over a land dispute.
Security analyst, Adib Saani, has observed that the perpetrators of the gruesome murder of two off-duty policemen in Trasacco could be in plain sight rather than moving away from the crime scene.
In an interview on TV3’s News Central on Friday, May 3, Adib Saani underscored that investigations must be swift, commending the police’s action within the last 24 hours after the incident.
“As a criminology researcher, the first 24 hours is extremely key, 48 hours is okay, 72 hours acceptable. Beyond that, it becomes much more difficult to gather evidence. That is why I’m particularly happy about the police’s action as a manhunt has been announced. I’m hoping that they get the necessary cooperation from the general populace.
“Usually when people perpetrate such crimes based on antecedents, there is always a possibility that they’d wish to relocate from where the crime was perpetrated.
“So we need to cast our nets wide. But the possibility that they might also be in plain sight because there are situations where perpetrators of crimes come around to see what is going on,” the security expert said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Adam Bonaa, a security expert, has indicated that it would be premature to conclude that the killing of the two off-duty police officers by unknown gunmen was a contract killing.
“You will want to conclude that this is something like that, but it is difficult, but then who is the owner of the property? The owner of the property I believe would have to be spoken to, to know whether he has not offended anybody, is he litigating? Is the owner of the land in dispute with anybody (sic)?
“If it is in dispute and you have Police officers staying there, then chances are that whoever he is disputing with will think that because of these Police officers that is why he can take this property. So we can proffer various theories but we should allow the Police to investigate this.
“As usual, I am expecting the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to be as swift as he usually would be to apprehend these people as soon as possible because this is too much to take,” he told Alfred Ocansey on Ghana Tonight on Thursday, May 2.
Dr. Bonaa noted that the owner of the building where the police officers were killed should be invited for questioning, whether or not the property is a subject of litigation.
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke