Publicise report on Islamic SHS shooting – Peace Council, Small Arms Commission to Police

Speed up investigation on Islamic SHS shooting – Police urged

Islamic SHS shooting: Deputy Regional Police Commander removed, 2 Senior Officers interdicted

The National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the National Peace Council is urging the Police to speed up investigations into the shooting incident involving its officers at the Islamic Senior High School (SHS).

In a joint statement issued on June 19, 2022, the Peace Council and the Arms Commission urged the Police to publicise the findings of its investigation to help restore the public’s confidence in its operations.

However, the Peace Council and the Arms Commission indicated that the Police sanctioning the Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander and two other senior officers as a first step is highly commendable.

“The National Commission on Small Arms and Light Weapons and the National Peace Council wish to commend the Ghana Police Service for the swift action in sanctioning their officers for breach of Police procedures and instituting a further investigation into the incident.

“We wish to urge the Police to speed up the investigations into the matter and in the spirit of enhancing public confidence in the work of the Ghana Police Service, inform the general public of the outcome of the investigation and sanctions meted out to officers found to have misconducted themselves,” portions of the statement read.

The two-state agencies also thanked the authorities of Islamic SHS, the parents of the students and the media for helping to bring the situation under control.

The Police, in a statement, said that DCOP Kwasi Akomeah-Apraku, acting Deputy Ashanti Regional Commander, has been removed from his position following the shooting incident at the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi on Monday, June 13.

DCOP Kwasi Akomeah-Apraku was interdicted with two other officers, ACP George Ankomah, the Regional Operations Officer and ACP Alex Cudjoe Acquah, the Suame Divisional Police Commander.

The Islamic SHS students were embarking on a protest to register their displeasure over recurrent pedestrian knockdowns involving students on the road in front of the school.

The protest led to heavy traffic on the road in front of the school, and Police were subsequently called on to disperse the protesting students.

In their bid to disperse the students, the Police reportedly opened tear gas and fired warning shots at them while they were protesting, which led to about 25 of them being hospitalised.