4 people arrested in connection with Sogakope Assembly member murder

The Volta Regional Police have picked up four persons in connection with the killing of the Assembly member for the Sogakope South Electoral Area.

The four were arrested at different locations last Thursday and Saturday following a tip-off, and conveyed to the Regional Police Headquarters in Ho, to assist in investigations.

According to Corporal Prince Dogbatse, an officer at the Volta Regional Police Public Relations Office (PRO), the four would be duly arraigned after investigations.

Detained

In a related development, two policemen have been detained at the Volta Regional Police Headquarters in Ho following the disappearance of one service rifle from the Sogakope Police station on March 7, 2020.

The Sogakope area has witnessed a number of unfortunate incidents in recent times, including the murder of Mr Marcus Mawutor Adzahli, aka Mac Greenline, the Assembly member for the Sogakope South Electoral Area.

He was shot dead at his residence at midnight on Sunday, March 1, 2020 by unknown assailants, numbering about eight, who also left his wife and his child with severe injuries.

Criminal acts

A series of protests by the youth of Sogakope followed the murder, during which they blocked the main Sogakope-Aflao road for a considerable number of hours.

The youth also accused the police of not acting professionally to bring the perpetrators of the recurring murders in the area to book.

The Volta Regional Police Commander, DCOP Mr Edward Oduro Kwarteng, said on March 3, the regional police command started an enquiry into the concerns raised against the police in Sogakope and would sanction officers found complicit.

The Regional Police PRO, Corporal Dogbatse, however, said the arrest and detention of the two policemen was not in connection with Adzahli’s murder, and that “investigations conducted so far do not suggest any link between the missing weapon and the murder of the assembly member”.

Weapons disappeared

He said the weapon in question disappeared on March 7, whereas the unfortunate killing of the assembly member happened on March 1.

“It is only a coincidence and the command is working to get to the bottom of both,” he said.

Corporal Dogbatse said the police would review administrative protocols at the Sogakope Police Station and called for public support, as the police worked in partnership with relevant stakeholders to unravel those behind the killings.

The police also urged members of the public to come forth with credible and timely information that would lead to the arrest of people linked to the killing and other criminals in the region by calling the following toll-free numbers: 191/18555 or 0242979097, 0240292264 and 0201748309.

Source: Graphic