Interior Minister, IGP, others visit injured policemen

The Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante Apeatu, yesterday paid a visit to four policemen who had been shot by suspected armed robbers last Saturday night at Sukura-Zabrama Line, a suburb of Accra.

The personnel are currently receiving treatment at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, in Accra.

The delegation, including other top officials of the Ghana Police Service, also took time to interact with two other people, an elderly woman and a 24-year-old man who were caught in the crossfire between the policemen and the unidentified suspected robbers, and got injured in the process.

Although the identity of the civilians are being protected, the policemen have been identified as Constable Gbedema Rudorf, Corporal Gbemu Thompson, Sergent Charles Dankwa, and Corporal Alex Nyamekye.

They were attacked at approximately 8:30pm last Saturday when they were on patrol duties and had responded to a distress call from a resident of Sukura-Zabrama Line.

As of the time of filing this report, three of the policemen, namely Conatable Gbedema Rudorf, Corporal Gbemu Thompson, Corporal Alex Nyamekye, had been discharged, while one of them, Seargent Charles Dawna, whose condition was described as critical, was still on admission at the surgical ward.

One of the civilians, the 24-year-old man, had also been treated and discharged from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

Speaking to journalists after the visit, Mr Ambrose Dery commended doctors at the hospital for attending to the wounded civilians and policemen on time and urged the public to provide reliable information which could lead to the arrest of the suspects.

Background

Briefing the Daily Graphic last Sunday, the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr George Alex Mensah, said the policemen were shot at by a member of a group of young men suspected to be armed robbers.

He said the policemen came across the suspected robbers and one of them opened fire without any warning, shooting the policemen at close range.

The policemen sustained varied degrees of injury on their arms, thighs and abdomen. Another received the bullet close to his heart.

Mr Mensah said the driver of the police vehicle, Sergent Ebenezer Danso, went to the rescue of his wounded colleagues and rushed them to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

He explained that the elderly woman sustained injury when she attempted to escape from the scene during the shooting but fell into a gutter and broke her leg.