Occupants of the Toyota Camry car that was shot at at the entrance of lamashegu chief Palace in the Northern Regional capital, Tamale have explained that they refused to stop at the instruction of the police because they didn’t believe they were police officers.
Speaking to Mr. Simon Agana Blessing on the Word Community Watch Show on Word FM in Zuarungu, Mr. Abdul Ibrahim, one of the occupants of the car that was shot at , said he and his colleagues refused to stop when the police stopped them because they were afraid they might not be true police officers. He said their fear was informed by the recent car robbery incident in Buipe where an alleged military officer in military uniform and his colleagues robbed a car.
Narrating the incident that led to the shooting, Mr. Abdul Ibrahim said they saw “A police patrol car carrying two policemen shooting at a private car in broad day light. We turned around quickly to drive off out of fear. The police pursued us to stop but we didn’t because we could not tell who the shooters were. We didn’t think the police could be engaged in that kind of behavior. As we raced away, the police vehicle chased us and one of the policemen opened fire on us.”
He said the police chased “us to the Lamanshegu Chief palace where we ran to seek refuge from the shooters. But as we stopped in front of the palace, the police officers shot into the car hitting the driver, Jabir. In Dagbang custom, when someone takes refuge at a Chief’s palace, you can’t pursue them any further or harm them. But this was ignored.”
Mr. Abdulai Ibrahim also debunked claims that they were carrying guns. He said it is not true that they were carrying guns, a reason for the unfortunate shooting by the police.
Mr. Abdulai Ibrahim and his colleagues, Rahaman Jabr, Abu Masawud were driving a Toyota Camry when the police chased and shot at their car for refusing to stop.
The police have meanwhile honoured their promise to take the bills of the victims by clearing all the bills that has been incured by Rahaman Jabir who was shot at the waist and is on admission at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
By: Simon Agana Blessing/mywordfmonline.com