Akwasi Nsiah, an outspoken journalist with the Multimedia Group Limited, has demanded a thorough independent investigation into the purported March 9, 2023 attack on a team of police personnel assigned to the Axim Divisional Police patrol squad.

He contends that the Ghana Police Service cannot be relied upon to ascertain the facts of the case unless an impartial body is assigned the responsibility of looking into the alleged attack.

"IGP, with all due respect, we can't allow you and your team to examine this issue, and we can't trust the Ghana Police Service to look into this issue and uncover the truth," Akwasi Nsiah stated on Tuesday's edition of Asem Yi Di Ka on the Badwam morning show on Adom TV.

He cited the 2018 Asawase shooting incident to support his theory, pointing out that an independent government committee that looked into the shooting of seven people at Manso-Nkwanta in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region came to the conclusion that there was no reason to think the victims were armed robbers as the Police had claimed in their report.

"Let me show you something... In 2018, after a year after Nana Akufo-Addo had been sworn into office, police officers killed some 7 boys from Asawase, claiming they were armed robbers who exchanged fire with them. The relatives of the deceased denied the claims by the police which resulted in President Akufo-Addo calling for an independent probe into the matter, and when the report came out in 2019, it found that the 7 youth who shot were not armed robbers," he said.

Akwasi said this resulted in the government paying GH¢1.750 million as compensation to the families of the seven youth who were killed by police at Manso Nkwanta in July 2018.

Background

The Ghana Police has detained four persons in connection with the assault on some police personnel in Axim.

According to a statement by the Police Public Affairs Directorate, the accused, Kojo Siah alias Mozey, Emmanuel Mensah alias Kofi Asamoah, Maxwell Cudjoe, and Agyabu Haruna Dissawu attacked the police officers and took their phones and the magazine of a service weapon.

According to the statement, three pump-action shotguns were found following a search of the home of Kwame Ato Asare Ani, the primary suspect, who is currently at large.

A pump-action shotgun, two machetes, and eight BB rifle cartridges were also reported as having been taken from the suspect's unregistered Honda car, along with other items that the police claimed to have also taken from the suspect, including two live BB cartridges and one unregistered motorcycle.

Meanwhile, the police said the allegation of extortion against the officers has been referred to the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSP) for investigation, following video footage on social media in which the said personnel were seen pleading with members of the gang while the gang was alleging extortion by the police officers.