A 34-year-old man described by the police as a notorious land guard is in the grip of the Abokobi-Ayi-Mensah District Police Command for allegedly shooting his cousin to death at Oyarifa, near Ayi-Mensah in the Greater Accra Region.
The suspect, identified as Adjetey Ofoli, is said to have been seen roaming in the community wielding a pump action gun and threatening to kill his cousin, Robert Okpoti Mensah, 41, alias Seaman.
Ofoli, who claimed Mensah had described him as a fool, shot his cousin in broad daylight between two houses in the presence of a number of neighbours.
Mensah was pronounced dead on arrival at the Police Hospital after some Good Samaritans had taken him in a taxi to two health facilities where they were turned away before they sent him to the Police Hospital.
Residents tight-lipped
Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Abokobi-Ayi-Mensah District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police Augustina Enti, said about 1:30 p.m. on October 1, 2015, the police had information that a man had been shot at Oyarifa, but when they went to the scene, there were only bloodstains on the ground.
She said the residents of the community were tight-lipped over the incident, as the occupants of the two houses close to where the shooting had taken place would not tell the police what had happened.
Ofoli and Mensah, she said, were said to have engaged in a scuffle that was settled by some eyewitnesses.
However, Ofoli went to his house after the scuffle and returned to the scene with a pump action gun. At that time, Mensah had left the scene.
“Ofoli, who was wielding the gun, went round the vicinity looking for Mensah until he caught up with him in between the two houses and at a very close range fired at Mensah at the right side of the chest,” she said.
Scary scene
Some residents who witnessed the incident were scared to help Mensah, who was bleeding, as they were unable to disarm Ofoli who wielded the gun and warned onlookers to stay away.
It was not until Ofoli entered his room and later ran into a nearby bush that some neighbours put Mensah in a taxi to seek medical attention for him.
Ofoli, who is said to have stayed in the bush overnight, was arrested through police intelligence the next day.
After his arrest, ASP Enti said, Ofoli told the police that he had shot his cousin after Mensah had insulted him that he (Ofoli) was a fool.
However, she said police investigations had revealed that the two had quarrelled over a land sale at Oyarifa.
She said Ofoli, who is a notorious land guard, was noted for the multiple sale of land to separate individuals and that the two had been engaged in a dispute over the sale of a piece of family land.
Gun hidden in bush
Ofoli later led the police to retrieve the pump action gun which he had hidden in a hole that he had dug in the bush. Eight live cartridges were found loaded in the gun.
The police had earlier retrieved an empty shell from the crime scene.
Investigations are still ongoing to ascertain the source of the weapon.
Source: graphic.com.gh
