A tragic incident unfolded in Kenyase-Abrem, located in the Ashanti Region, where a 22-year-old woman lost her life in a gunshot incident while returning home from the 31st December watch night service.
The victim, Lydia Ayampali, a young mother carrying her one-year-old baby, was traveling in a tricycle with two other passengers when the horrifying incident occurred.
Reports indicate that Lydia sustained a gunshot wound to the head during the journey, and the residue from the gunfire also affected her child.
Lydia was swiftly taken to the Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, but sadly, she was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The tricycle driver, Alhassan Seidu Abubakar, recounted the distressing scene to Citi News, stating, “I was around Abrem station when these two ladies came to board the tricycle. Immediately I took off, I heard a loud sound. I thought it was a knockout [firecracker]. I did not know it was a gunshot. But I felt the heat on my neck, so I stopped the tricycle and checked my back and realized the lady had been shot.”
He continued, “I got scared and I screamed. That was the time the other lady realized something had happened to her sister. At that moment I couldn’t do anything, so a guy helped me carry them in his car, and we took her to the nearest hospital, but they said it was an emergency, so they asked us to take her to Manhyia Hospital. But when we got there, they also said we should take her to Okomfo Anokye Hospital, so when we got there, the doctors confirmed that she was dead.”
Lydia’s uncle, Yaw Ghaatoun, disclosed, “We heard that the person responsible for this is a priest, and this is not the first time he has shot someone. Ours is the third of its kind.”
Mr. Ghaatoun added that the alleged perpetrator has been remanded in custody for two weeks.
The grief-stricken father of the deceased, Kwame Bohitana, expressed deep sorrow and revealed that the court has ordered the family to return in two weeks.
The devastated family members are now pleading with authorities for justice in the wake of this tragic incident.
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