The Kasoa Divisional Police Command has been accused of killing a 23 year old man who was in custody. Family of Gordon Okai who was being held by police over a recent robbery incident believe their relative died as a result of severe brutality and are of the view that, the deceased was innocent and therefore calling in the police top hierarchy to investigate the death thoroughly.
Godfred Okai, affectionately called Junior by relatives and also known as Why Worry was being held by police as suspect of a recent robbery occurrence.
In the afternoon of December 20, 2022, a mobile money vendor was shot and an undisclosed amount of money he used for business taken away by three robbers who were on a motorbike at Adam Nana, a suburb of Kasoa.
Family members of the deceased say, police broke into his room during the night of Dec 23 to arrest him but failed to disclose which particular police station they took him to.
They say, police officers kept directing them to wrong stations including the national command as where he was being kept and even though they followed up to all those stations, Junior could not be seen.
A police team however reached out to them on Tuesday, Dec 27, 2022 and invited them to the Kasoa Divisional Police Command where they were informed that, Godfred had fallen ill and died whilst in custody.
A sister who shared the same room with Godfred on the night he was arrested believes that, his brother might have died as a result of brutality. She accuses police of severely brutalizing the deceased at the point of arrest.
For the mother and relatives of Godfred, who are stunned by the development, they posit that he was innocent of the crime he was arrested for. According to them, the deceased was actively involved in mason work even on the afternoon the robbery incident occured and so may not have been involved in the act. They also say, none of the three persons who were captured by a nearby CCTV camera resembled Godfred.
They are therefore calling on the police administration to investigate matters surrounding his arrest, brutality and subsequent death thoroughly and have any contributing police officer sanctioned.
They spoke to Mireku nyampong.
When contacted, Kasoa Divisional Commander Chief Supt. Charles Koosonu referred this reporter to the Central East Regional Commander ACP David S Eklu. Efforts to reach him as at the time of filing this report were unsuccessful.