Lt. Col. Kwasi Ware Peprah, Commanding Officer of the 4th Infantry Battalion says the military officer seen kneeling in viral photos and videos during the Ejura protest did not fire any shots as many believed.
On Tuesday, June 29, 2021, security personnel shot and killed two people among some young people demonstrating as part of their quest to ask for answers following the death of activist, Ibrahim’ Kaaka’ Mohammed.
Speaking before a committee probing the killings, Peprah claimed the yet-to-be-identified soldier did not fire at anyone when he kneeled as many stated based on the videos shared online.
The committee probing the incident is made up of George Kingsley Koomson, a Justice of the Court of Appeal as Chairman, Security Expert, Dr Vladimir Antwi Danso, and Juliet Amoah, Executive Director of Penplusbyte, a civil society organization.
Taking his turn before the committee on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, Lt. Col. Kwasi Ware Peprah said the soldier in the viral photo was only following standard procedure.
“There is a procedure in dispersing crowds. The first is a verbal warning. The second is to cork your weapons to signal to the crowd that you are about to fire.The third is to fire warning shots but the signal to scare them includes kneeling. To aim, for you to be scared and maybe disperse,” said Peprah.
“As a matter of fact, the direction of the man who knelt was such that no casualty came from that side. He didn’t fire. He didn’t fire. He fired only warning shots but when he went down, he didn’t fire.”
Background
Ibrahim Muhammed, the 40-year-old father of six, was murdered in cold blood by unknown persons outside his residence at Ejura in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
Sahada Hudu, the deceased’s wife, said he had received warnings regarding his activism from a person she knows.
She said her attempts to stop him from getting himself in danger proved futile as he continued with his advocacy.
Following his death, the youth of Ejura embarked on a demonstration seeking answers from authorities.
It ended in a shooting by security personnel and the death of two people. Following the death of the two, President Akufo-Addo directed the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery to investigate the incident.
