Kumasi Killer Arrested

A 23-year-old man has been arrested over the daredevil murder that took place at Ash Town in Kumasi, one of many to hit the Ashanti regional capital in recent times. The suspect was picked up at about 3:00am on Thursday in the Kumasi suburb of Aboabo for the alleged murder of a staunch supporter of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kwadwo Asamoah aka Gawusu. The suspect, who has already been brought to Accra, was at the time of filing this report being held by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI). The Ashanti regional capital has virtually become a theatre of war with hoodlums committing crimes in broad daylight with impunity. The insecurity in Kumasi is raising a lot of concern among residents, compelling President John Mahama to hold an emergency meeting with security chiefs yesterday. The suspect was arrested upon a tipoff, which the Police quickly dealt with and nabbed the 23-year-old man in the Kumasi suburb. Operatives of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters yesterday touched base at the BNI headquarters to begin preliminary interrogation of the suspect, even as he remained in the custody of the security agency. Law enforcement agents were tight-lipped about details of the suspect and how far they had gone with investigations. The suspect is thought to be part of a gang of hoodlums which shot and later butchered the deceased Kwadwo Asamoah. The daredevil murder, according to many, was politically-motivated, prompting many questions about the safety or otherwise of Kumasi, especially against the background of previous inexplicable murders. Gawusu did not die alone, as a certain Victor Ocrah, a bystander, lost his life after he was hit by a stray bullet fired by one of the robbers during the operation. The deceased, a stoutly built man, was violently attacked by his assailants when he and his friends were drinking in the afternoon of that fateful day as people in the neighbourhood took cover from the flying bullets. The assailants fled the scene on their motorbikes and in a taxi after completing their bloody mission. Both persons were confirmed dead upon arrival at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, prompting a flurry of queries. While some imputed politics, others pointed at outstanding disagreements between the deceased and his attackers. Kumasi, in recent times, has been dogged by worrying incidents of murders, with the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, especially being put on the spot for what his critics see as ineffectiveness in the wake of the brazen murders, some of them in broad daylight. The Regional Police Commander, DCOP Augustine Gyening, was tongue-lashed for downplaying the Kumasi murders, with some even asking for his transfer from the region. The Defence Minister, Mark Woyongo, has reportedly said that the Kumasi killings are exaggerated and that other parts of the country also suffer murders. The minister has been put on the spot for making what in the opinion of former MP for Ahafo Ano South, Stephen Balado Manu, is a reckless remark.