A scene at the family house of the deceased (inset)
The parents of a final-year Technical Science student of Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) in Takoradi were devastated when their son was shot and killed allegedly by a police officer at Nyankrom in the Shama District of the Western Region few days to Christmas.
The police officer, Adjei Shaibu of the Inchaban Police, was believed to have shot Lawrence Joe Baidoo at about 8:30pm on Friday, December 22.
He has been remanded into police custody by a Takoradi District Court to reappear on January 12, 2018.
According to reports, the student and his four friends were on their way to a street jam at Shama Junction when the incident happened.
The suspect, who was riding a motorbike, allegedly mistook them for thieves and purportedly opened fired on them.
“The young guys were on their way to a street jam being organized by some youth from the area around 8pm on Friday, December 22. The cop, upon seeing the boys, shouted thieves and shot at them resulting in the casualties,” a resident alleged.
The lifeless body of the deceased, Lawrence Baidoo, was conveyed to the Effia Nkwanta Hospital morgue in Sekondi while two other friends, who sustained injuries, were transported to a hospital at Inchaban for treatment.
The heartbroken parents of the deceased have called on the Ghana Police Service to thoroughly investigate the matter and prosecute the suspect.
The father of the deceased, Emmanuel Baidoo, who spoke to journalists, asserted that he knew the police detective very well and that he saw him earlier in the evening with a gun.
He indicated that the son was a boarder and so came home on Thursday, December 21 after vacation.
“So the following day, I went to the room of my son and realized he was playing with his computer. I was about to go to work and so I gave him money and he told me he will visit the mother who sells at Inchaban later in the day,” he added.
He continued “After work around 7pm, I met Lawrence coming from his mother’s shop and he told me he was going home so I accompanied him to the roadside to pick a car to the house.”
“After about 10 minutes I saw Shaibu was holding a gun on a motorbike while the lady was driving a car behind the motorbike to her house. The lady is a neighbour.
“So I don’t know what happened but I heard my son decided to go and call his friends at Shama Junction with some mates and on their way they saw Shaibu on the motorbike and when he saw them he shouted thieves and started shooting and the bullets hit my son’s head.”
The father indicated that the one, who was shot in the shoulder knew Shaibu and mentioned his name, adding “Another female friend who was far from the boys saw whatever happened.
Police
The Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) ASP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku told DAILY GUIDE that at about 11pm on December 22, one Eunice Bentum and Isaac Idun, both of Ituma, went to the Sekondi Police Station to report the case.
Eunice Bentum told the police that she and Lawrence Joe Baidoo, Kwabena Dukpor and two others, all from Nyankrom, were walking towards Shama Junction and on the way, a motor rider suddenly shot at them, adding that Lawrence Joe Baidoo and Kwabena Dukpor sustained gunshot wounds.
She indicated that they were both rushed to St Benedict Hospital at Inchaban but Lawrence Joe Baidoo was pronounced dead on arrival.
“Police visited the hospital and saw the body of Lawrence Joe Baidoo, a final-year student of GSTS on a stretcher with suspected gunshot wounds on the neck. Victim Kwabena Dukpor, 22, also sustained suspected gunshot wounds on the neck,” the PRO noted.
She noted that Dukpor mentioned D/Cpl. Adjei Shaibu of Inchaban Police as the person who shot at them.
Counsel for Suspect
Speaking to journalists after the brief court proceedings, counsel for the police officer, Edmond Acquaah-Arhin, maintained that his client was innocent of the charges brought against him.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi