Feb 28 Shootings: ‘If the bullet missed Adjetey, I would have been next’ – 100-year-old veteran recounts

Speaking with Etsey Atisu on GhanaWeb TV as part of the Ghana Month Series on People and Places, he described the day as a horrific day.

The 100-year-old veteran said he was part of the delegation of 230 soldiers who had returned from war two years prior and decided to petition to colonial governor at the time.

“The petition to the governor was to seek better life conditions after we had returned from war,” he stated.

However, he said they were met with resistance from the police, who denied them access to the Christiansborg Castle to see the governor.

“The British police officer stopped us and asked why we were there. Our leader, Adjetey, explained everything to him but he asked us to leave the petition with him but we declined because we wanted to meet the governor personally,” Hammond indicated.

He also stated that the situation escalated when the police officer in charge ordered one of his men to shoot them.

However, he said that officer refused to shoot, which led the White officer to take the gun and fire at them himself, killing Private Odartey Lamptey, Corporal Attipoe, and Sergeant Adjetey.

“I narrowly escaped death. If the bullet had missed Sergeant Adjetey, I would have been the next victim,” he said.

Nii Ashitey Hammond also recounted some of the traumatic experiences of Ghanaian veterans during World War II and the struggles they faced upon returning home.