A key member of Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ Tiger Eye Private Investigations (PI) Team, Ahmed Hussein-Suale, has been killed by unidentified assailants.
Two men on a motorbike shot and killed him in a Hollywood style while he was driving home late Wednesday at Madina, a suburb of Accra.
The 31-year-old received three gunshots, two in the chest and another in the neck, according to the police. The incident reportedly happened very close to his house.
The late Ahmed, an undercover investigator, was instrumental in the production of Anas’ Number 12 investigative piece that rocked the country and led to the resignation of the President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Kwesi Nyantakyi and other football officials.
Confirming the incident, Anas Aremeyaw Anas wrote on his facebook wall early yesterday morning: “Sad news, but we shall not be silenced. Rest in peace, Ahmed.”
Tiger Eye PI Team, in a statement, said police investigators at Madina revealed that the two unidentified men fled on a motorbike immediately after shooting Ahmed at close range.
“We commiserate with Ahmed’s family on this painful loss and pray that Allah will give them the strength to bear the grief.
“We, at Tiger Eye PI, are terribly devastated by the dastardly act but remain unshaken in our resolve to pursue nation-wreckers and make corruption a high-risk activity in the country,” the statement said.
Family’s Reaction
Some family members, who spoke to a local radio station, claimed the late Ahmed received a call on the night of his death while hanging out with some folks that his child was not feeling well.
“Shortly after leaving us to take the child to the hospital, we heard that he had been shot dead by some men who rode on a motorbike,” one of the residents said.
Meanwhile, relatives of Ahmed, who was survived by a wife and daughter, are demanding justice.
A cousin of the deceased, Abdul Jalil Yakubu, said the family had given the security agencies a week’s ultimatum to make progress in the investigations or they would be forced to react.
“What we need is justice but when the justice fails we will react…,” he declared.
Gov’t Condemns Attack
Government, through the Ministry of Information, condemned the gruesome murder of the investigative journalist and urged police to ‘speed up’ investigations into the case.
“Government condemns this heinous and barbaric act. We are aware the Police have begun investigations into the incident. We, however, urge the security agency to quicken their investigations and bring the perpetrators to book. Violence against media practitioners and journalists must not be tolerated,” Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said.
Blame Game
Early yesterday, a video of Assin Central Member of Parliament (MP) Kennedy Agyapong talking about the deceased in an interview on television in the wake of the Anas-Nyantakyi Tape saga went viral.
The MP was captured asking the studio crew to show pictures of the deceased during the premiering of his ‘Who Watches The Watchman,’ which was geared towards discrediting the investigative piece of Anas.
The MP, in the video, said the late Ahmed had been frequenting Ken City Media, which houses his NET2 and Oman FM networks.
He accused the deceased of frequenting the premises of Ken City Media to ‘spy’ for Anas and subsequently declared him persona non grata at the facility.
As a result, some people have started pointing accusing fingers at the MP over the murder of the Tiger Eye PI staff.
MP Reaction
In the ensuing heat the MP, who parried the allegations, said he had nothing to do with the killing of the journalist.
He said he only raised concerns about the unconstitional modus operandi of Anas and his boys.
Mr Agyapong also added his voice to calls for thorough investigations into the case, adding that he was ready to assist the police in investigations.
The Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafoh, said the fact that the MP displayed the picture of the Tiger Eye PI staff on television few months before his killing does not make him culpable.
“You cannot just condemn somebody merely because he exposed the photograph of another person; you must understand the circumstances and know where he was also coming from. We must learn to look at things from certain perspectives. The fact that the photograph was released was not criminal. That he promised to reward anybody who might accost this gentleman is a different thing from exposing the photograph. What we must appreciate is that there is no right that is totally absolute,” he added.
No Suspect Named
The Head of Public Affairs Unit of the Greater Accra Police, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Effia Tenge, indicated that no prime suspect has been identified.
She told Daily Guide that Police Information Room (PIR) received a call at about 10 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 that someone had been shot by two unknown assailants on a motorbike at Madina.
She said the victim, who was later identified as Ahmed, was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Pentecost Hospital at Madina.
By Jamila AkweleyOkertchiri