Police kills soldier mistaken for armed robber

A soldier stationed in Tamale had been killed during a robbery attack at Buipe in the Central Gonja District in the early hours of Friday.

Razak Ibrahim, an eyewitness, told the GNA in Tamale on Friday that the incident occurred some meters away from the police barrier at Buipe.

Ibrahim, who was in the same private vehicle with the deceased, said they both bordered the vehicle from Kumasi with two others and got to the robbery scene where a cargo vehicle had already been attacked and the road barricaded.

“The soldier was not in his military attire”, he said.

He said the robbers, who were Fulanis and numbering about six, collected GHc200.00 from him and moved to the soldier and tried collecting his belongings but the soldier was able to overpower the robbers and skillfully collected their gun.

Ibrahim said the robbers bolted into the bush.

He said suddenly a policeman arrived from the police barrier and started asking where the robbers were.

When he saw the soldier holding the gun, he mistook him for a robber and shot him twice killing him instantly.

When the GNA contacted the Northern Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police Agwunbutoge Awuni, he confirmed the incident and said investigations were ongoing.

He said a pathology test and autopsy would be conducted on the soldier to determine the type of bullet that killed him. “There are conflicting reports about the death. Some say it was the robbers who shot him while others say it was the policeman who shot him”.

The body of the deceased had been deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

Source: GNA