The deceased, identified as Abdul Hakim, a resident of Lamashegu, is said to have been hit by a stray bullet, fired by the police.

General Corporal Samson Kweku Darfour has pleaded not guilty to the charge of unlawful discharge of weapon and causing harm.

The case has been adjourned to March 23, 2022.

At Thursday’s hearing, the prosecution amended the facts presented at the first hearing.

The prosecution indicated that the accused was the leader of the team which was detailed to monitor crime along the Tamale stadium forest road.

While on duty, they saw someone driving an unregistered Toyota Camry.

Upon seeing the police team, the driver made a U-turn and sped off.

“The accused, seeing that, jumped into the police vehicle and gave the victim a hot chase to the Lamashegu chief’s palace, where he shot into the car through the backdoor. The bullet then hit and lodged in the right hip of the occupant of the vehicle.”

A bystander was also a victim of the shooting and got injured during a clash between the youth and the police.

The victim was rushed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital and was later confirmed dead.

The deceased was identified as Abdul Hakim, a resident of Lamashegu.

Lawyer for the defendant, however, argued that the facts presented were inaccurate and that, the accused acted professionally in accordance with his work and told the court to give them ample time to provide adequate facts to counter that of the prosecution.

The lawyer further pleaded with the court to grant the defendant bail while he prepared strong facts to defend his client.

Background

On February 14, six police officers were interdicted following a shooting incident at Lamashegu, a suburb of Tamale in the Northern Region that resulted in the death of one person and injury of several others.

The shooting incident occurred on Sunday, February 13, at about 1 pm, and led to the subsequent attack on the Police by the youth of Lamashegu.

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One person died while several others sustained various degrees of injury after some police personnel in Tamale clashed with the youth of Lamashegu.

The incident is said to have occurred after the police on their patrols allegedly stopped an unregistered vehicle but the driver refused to stop resulting in the former chasing the latter.

The driver drove to the Lamashegu chief’s palace for refuge, but was given a hot chase and shot at.

Infuriated by the incident, the youth of the community reportedly peddled stones at the police and burnt lorry tires on the streets. 

The youth made this statement following their visit to the victims at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

The clash between the Police and the youth has claimed the life of a JHS graduate, Abdul Hakim, while others are battling for their lives at the hospital.

The JHS graduate, who lost his life through this violence, sustained gunshot wounds and was rushed to the hospital for treatment but died on arrival.

Another JHS two pupil, Tawfic Abdul-Razak, who was on his way to school, was also hit by a stray bullet directly at his mouth destroying his teeth whilst others received multiple injuries and are receiving treatment.

A bullet, meanwhile, hit a victim and penetrated the neck.

A health worker at the hospital told Adom News that about eight people were shot and brought to the Tamale Teaching Hospital with one dead on arrival.

The source said health workers at the hospital managed to stabilise the condition of some of the victims.

Speaking to Adom News, the father of the victim, whose mouth was shot by a stray bullet, Abdul-Razak Issah, said he couldn’t recognise his son after he got to the hospital.

According to him, his son was associated with the clash and he was on his way to school when the unfortunate incident happened.

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He, therefore, appealed to the authorities to ensure immediate justice to prevent similar situation in future.

“My son was on his way to school and the bullet hit him. I don’t know if he will survive. I’m calling on the authorities to take serious action against the perpetrators to prevent such situations,” he said.

He is one of the Junior High School (JHS) pupils of the Umar Al Mutar who just wrote his Basic School Certificate Examination.

Narrating the incident to JoyNews, young Yakubu’s landlord, Alhassan Imoro, said the gentleman was playing football with his friends on the Zosimli Junior School High Park when the shooting started.

In a bid to escape to safety together with his colleagues, he was hit by a bullet.

JoyNews gathered that the bullet hit his hand, smashed it, and penetrated through the ribs.

Alhassan Imoro, who is also an Assemblyman for the Sagnarigu Dungu Electoral area, described him as a calm, gentle boy.

“This boy is so calm and gentle. I have plenty of children in my compound. It took his pictures for me to know he was the one they were talking about,” he said.

Mr Imoro said the whole Bayawaya community, where he lived, has been thrown into a state of mourning.

He said Yakubu’s mother is yet to come to terms with his death.

“The mother is grieving so much; I have never seen a woman in such pain,” he said.

Seven other people were injured in yesterday’s violent clash in Lamashigu.

Four are said to be gunshots wounds, while the three got injured in their bid to escape the firing.

The violence started after the police tried to arrest a 24-year-old man, Rahaman Jabir, who sought refuge at the Lamashe Naa Palace.

Rahaman was said to be driving an unregistered vehicle when the police stopped him, but when he refused to stop, he was pursued by the police, and in the process, he was shot.

The 24-year-old managed to drive to the Lamashegu Chief Palace, but the police pursued him there.

The youth of the area got angered for what they described as total disrespect to the traditional ruler leading to unrest.

Meanwhile, the Police Service has interdicted six officers in connection with the incident.