Concerned youth of Keta in the Volta Region, both home and abroad is seeking justice for a victim of Police brutality, Jerry Kpesenu.
The deceased, a landlord is said to have died during a misunderstanding with some officers while in custody.
Speaking at a press conference held today, leader of the group, Forceman Doewilliams, who spoke on behalf of the youth, expressed their deep sorrow and outrage.
“We, the concerned and law-abiding youth of Keta, both home and abroad, gather here today with heavy hearts to invite you, the press, to help carry our message to the whole world about the unprofessional, barbaric, and inhumane acts of some officers of the Keta Police Division, leading to the untimely death of our brother Jerry Kpesenu (a.k.a Maya) in police custody on the 6th of June 2024.”
He added, “We have lost a great son of our land through this act of unprofessionalism and below-the-belt policing in our democratic and law-abiding Anlo land and country, Ghana.”
“We believe our brother Jerry Kpesenu was manhandled and murdered by the police, and we call for justice without delay. Members of the press present, our law-abiding brother, affectionately called Maya, was brutally assaulted in his own residence by known unethical men in uniform from the Keta Police Division for allegedly refusing to comply with an illegal demand while he was taking a coconut under a tree in his residence, possibly his last meal before he was ‘murdered’ in police custody in Keta,” Mr. Doewilliams said.
He added that, a professional invitation to the deceased to report himself at the Police station would have saved all this pain and grief.
Instead, he said the community is left mourning and demanding justice for what they describe as an unprofessional and unethical display of police brutality.
Mr. Doewilliams said their immediate demands are as follows:
- They are calling on the IGP to immediately interdict the officers involved in this inhumane and unprofessional conduct to pave the way for a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of their beloved brother.
- Set up a five-member committee to include an appointed member from the deceased’s family and another from the Keta youth.
- Request an independent autopsy in a highly professional pathology center in Ghana at the cost of the police.
They also gave the IGP, the Municipal Chief Executive for Keta, the Keta Divisional Police Command, the Volta Regional Police Command, and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo seven days to address their grievances.
Otherwise, they will not take the law into their own hands, but they will advise themselves after the given seven days starting from today, 10/6/2024.
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