Five land guards wanted in connection with Mpota shooting incident

The Effutu Municipal Divisional Police Command is looking for a gang of five, led by one Asafoatse, for allegedly opening fire on officials of Effutu Municipal Assembly while on duty at Gomoa Mpota.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Asiedu Okanta, the Divisional Commander, told the Ghana News Agency that the Command received information about a shooting incident on Tuesday, May 20, at about 1130hrs at Gomoa Mpota.

The Divisional Patrol team were quickly dispatched to the scene while another team visited the emergency ward of the Trauma and Specialist Hospital at Winneba where the six victims with multiple injuries were receiving treatment.

The victims are Samuel Nana Asante, aged 45, who had wounds on his left shoulder and neck, Emmanuel Wobil, 42, was wounded at the back, and Philip Bortsie, 26, received multiple injuries on both legs.

The rest are Ernest Fianko, 49, who was injured on his left thigh, Emmanuel Louis, 51, an American, had wounds on his shoulder, and Faustina Haynes, 52, wife of Louis, had head injuries.

Chief Superintendent Okanta said they were all responding to treatment.

Explaining the circumstances that led to the incident, he said preliminary enquiries revealed that at about 1100 hours on Tuesday, the Effutu Municipal Town and Country Planning officer, Isaac Adowah, the Municipal Engineer and five others went to Mpota with a grader machine to demarcate a road to the land of Mr Louis.
He said while working, they spotted about six men approaching them from the northern end of the land and on reaching about two hundred meters, one of them, who introduced himself as Asafoatse, ordered the officials to stop work.

Supt Okanta alleged that Asafoatse snatched a pump action gun from one of his men and aimed it at the victims and some of the officials and fired severally at them, leading to the injuries.

However, the officials from the Assembly escaped unhurt.

Supt. Okanta said the police did not meet the suspects as they left soon after the operation and a search conducted in and around the place produced nine 12mm empty cartridges.

He said Emmanuel Louis and the wife, Faustina Haynes, also an American, have been referred to the Greater Accra Regional Hospital for further treatment. GNA