Ghana: GRIDCO worker mistaken for armed robber and shot by police

Maclean Amoah-the injured GRIDCO Victim

The life of Maclean Amoah, a worker with the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) at Sefwi-Asawinso in the Western North Region hangs in a balance after police at Nyinahin in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti region mistook him for an armed robber and shot him in the thigh,energynewsafrica.com has learnt.

According to MyNewsGh.com, which broke the news the victim is seen in a video narrating his ordeal from the Emergency Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, where he was seeking medical attention.

The victim recounted how the police officers gave him a hot chase with a BMW salon car and eventually shot him in the left thigh when they caught up with him at Nyinahin.

The incident happened on Thursday, March 21, 2019 around 10 Pm, when the police, suspecting the victim, who was driving alone in his salon car with registration number, GN 1124-12, to be an armed robber for failing to stop at a barrier, trailed him with the said BMW car and Chief Inspector Gyekye shot him at Nyinahin, where the victim had parked.

The victim said he saw in his driving mirrors that he was been chased, but refused to stop because he feared for his life, due to how notorious the Bibiani-Kumasi Road is for armed robbery activities; so “I decided to drive to safety before stopping”, he added.

He said residents of the town threatened to kill him when he was abandoned by the police after shooting.

The victim is scheduled for a plastic surgery at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital under strict surveillance at his bed, as the police maintain he is an armed robber.

According to MyNewsGh.com, the wife of the victim is a police officer at Dorma in the Ahafo region.

The family of the victim is demanding justice and calling on the Minister of the Interior and the Inspector General of Police to intervene in the matter and bring the officers to book.

According to them, the identity of Maclean Amoah has never been in doubt since it can be easily verified at the GRIDCo and not an armed robber as the police wants the public to believe.

The vehicle in which the victim was traveling in and his mobile phone are in the custody of the Nyinahin Police to aid in investigations.