The chief of Ngleshie Lafa-Barima Nmarko, Nii Ayi Okufobour I, has condemned in no uncertain terms the action of his nephew, one Nii Ponponsuo, who was seen brandishing a pump-action gun in a viral video on social media.
In the video, the man could be heard running his mouth and mentioning the name Okufoubour, Asafoatsemei and Shipimei who have trained them and was grateful to them.
The name that was mentioned as Okufoubour is the chief of Ngleshie Lafa-Barima Nmarko, which falls under the Ngleshie Alata of James Town, Nii Ayi Okufobour I.
In an interview with the media after news broke of the incident, a very worried Nii expressed disgust over the matter and wondered why his boy decided to do the unthinkable by engaging in the acts he did if indeed he has his head properly screwed up.
Ni explained that the acquisition of the gun came about when armed robbers attacked his family some years ago, this development had huge psychological impact on members of his family, especially his children and that’s why he sent his daughters to boarding school since the trauma was too hard for them to bear because guns were pointed at them during the invasion of his house by armed robbers.
This is the reason why he purchased and licensed the gun to use as his personal weapon although the gun had been registered in the name of the stool and also brought his nephew to the house to beef up security for his household, so it came to him as a huge surprise when his boy did the unthinkable.
According to Nii, his nephew was not arrested by the police at any hideout as stated by in the press release issued by the police over the matter, but he personally upon receiving the video from a source via WhatsApp picked (Nii Ponponsuo} up and handed him over to the police immediately his attention was drawn to the incident he described as unfortunate.
Nii condemned the action of the boy in the strongest of terms explaining that in as such much as the incident happened some years ago, the actions of the boy cannot and would not be tolerated, stressing that what is wrong is wrong and should not and must not be tolerated in every way form or shape.
Nii stated that this is not the first time he has personally effected the arrest of persons or individuals who have fall foul of the law and gave several instances where he has and caused to be arrested people of that nature.
Nii applauded the police for their swift response and encouraged them to apply the law without fear or favour.
Nii disclosed that the family is up in arms with him over his resolve to ensure that the law takes its course in the matter by his singular act of handing the boy over to the police, but he insisted that the country is governed by laws and regulations and no one is above the law and so he must be dealt with.
In furtherance, he lashed out at Media General, operators of TV3, for going to town when the issue broke out without doing any due diligence on the matter because most of the things they said in their commentary on the matter are untruths.
Nii recalled that this is not the first time the station has peddled untruths about him and urged them to do the needful when issues of this nature surface.
Nii had a word for his detractors. According to him, some people he has issues with, with respect to land and boundary matters have taken delight in hanging on the unfortunate incident to throw dust at him, he said this too shall pass because he was unaware of the incident and that’s why when he got wind of it, he did the needful.
It could be recalled that the Police issued a statement that they have arrested one Nii Ponponsuo who was seen brandishing a pump-action gun in a viral video on social media.
The suspect in the viral video was seen loading cartridges into the pump-action gun and making threatening utterances.
In a Facebook post, the Ghana Police Service announced that the suspect was arrested on November 22, 2021, after the Police Intelligence Directorate conducted a special exercise leading to his arrest.
“The Police, after reviewing the video conducted a special exercise that led to the suspect’s arrest from his hideout. A search conducted led to the retrieval of one 12 bore SB pump-action gun,” the Facebook post indicated.
Currently, the suspect is assisting the Police with investigation.
The Service cautioned the general public, especially, individuals who have a penchant for the display of weapons and issuing threats to desist from such unlawful acts.
It added that “anyone arrested will be dealt with according to law.”