All this while my son was pleading for mercy but the security officer did not take any of that, and when I tried once again to plead on his behalf, I was given a heavy knock and at that moment I lost consciousness, I didn’t see anything again. When I woke up in the hospital, I was told they killed him.”
TO LOSE a dear one, they say, is very painful, but it is more agonising when you are subjected to a nightmarish sight of having to watch helplessly whilst your dear son is being killed for no justifiable reason.
That is the painful story of 65 year old Mad. Margaret Kyei, who lost her 49 year old son, Kwaku Oppong, an amputee, through the wicked and insensitive act of four military officers and a policeman.
Mad. Kyei gave a chilling experience of how the trigger-happy security personnel invaded their family house and subjected occupants to severe beatings, before killing her son.
“It was a harrowing experience, I have never seen security personnel act in such wicked manner, it is a sight I will never forget,” a sobbing Mad. Kyei narrated.
“My son arrived home around 9pm on Thursday”, she continued, “and met us sitting in front of a store, so as usual I asked his nephew, Baafi, to go and open the gate for him to drive in.”
She said few minutes after her son drove into the house, a group of military officers and a policeman arrived and asked for his whereabouts. She said she tried to inquire why they were looking for him, but the angry officers did not answer her.
“When they arrived, they asked us if we were occupants of the house and when we answered in the affirmative, they ordered all of us to get inside the house, after which they locked the gate and told me that my son was a thief and that they were looking for him.”
Mad. Kyei said at that moment, she challenged the allegation, insisting that her son was a very calm and peaceful man, which rather infuriated the officers the more.
“But before I could finish my statement, one of the soldiers gave me a dirty slap and yanked me to the ground, while the rest were running here and there searching everywhere for Oppong,”
She continued that as they were searching the house, they kept on threatening to kill everyone in the house if we did not reveal the whereabouts of Kwaku Oppong.
“It was during this moment that they held his nephew Baafi at gun point and warned that they would shoot him dead if he did not tell them the truth. But because Baafi was terrified, he pointed at a room and screamed at his uncle to come out.
“One soldier and the police officer then followed up and went inside the room where they found Oppong wrapped in a pile of mattresses,” Mad. Kyei said they dragged him from the room with a handcuff on one hand and subjected him to several and severe beatings.
“All this while, my son was pleading for mercy, but the security officer did not take any of that and when I tried once again to plead on his behalf, I was given a heavy knock and at that moment I lost consciousness, I didn’t see anything again. When I woke up in the hospital, I was told they killed him,” Mad. Kyei recounted, amidst crying.
Mad. Kyei said she is still traumatized about the incident and has not been able to sleep since that fateful day. She stated that her son was a very peaceful person who did not like trouble because of his condition.
“As at now nobody is telling us why these soldiers did what they did, I am now afraid for my life,” she lamented.
PLEADING FOR JUSTICE
Meanwhile, Mad. Margaret Kyei says she wants the police to get to the root of the matter and bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to book.
“It is painful to lose a son who was the breadwinner of the family, Oppong was a very hardworking person and was very serious about his work, as to why these officers decided to end his life still remains a mystery to me,” She noted.
The nephew of the deceased, Baafi, on his part said after they killed his uncle, the security officers stood for some minutes not knowing what to do.
“As they were beating my uncle, one of the soldiers said, why are we wasting time on this guy, why don’t we just kill him and leave,” after which they finally shot at him,” Baafi stated in a solemn mood.
“They conferred amongst themselves for some few minutes and placed a call, (I think to a CID at Mampongten Police Station), who came and took their statement.
“My uncle’s body lied on the floor till 1am on Friday, when the police came with a vehicle and took the body to the Ankaase Hospital,” he narrated.
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