Erastus Asare Donkor, a Journalist with the Multimedia Group in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, has said he saw a total of seven military personnel who engaged in the shooting that left two protesters dead and four others injured in the Ejura disturbances.
He made this known when he appeared before the three-member ministerial committee investigating the issue.
Mr. Asare Donkor further added that the military initially started firing warning shots into the air, but later changed the direction and fired directly into the protesters.
When asked about how long the shooting lasted, Mr. Asare Donkor said it went on for about 20 to 30 minutes.
“I saw seven military personnel who engaged in the shooting during the protest. Four came first, and later another three joined them.”
“The military initially started firing into the cloud, but later started firing into the protesters and some started falling and others retreating. The shooting went on for about 20 to 30 minutes.”
The Multimedia Media journalist also disclosed that one of the persons who died from the incident was very helpful to him and his team.
According to him, the protesters initially opposed them filming the protest, but Nasiru Yussif, one of the two protesters who died, spoke to the demonstrators in Hausa who allowed them to film.
“When we got to the scene, the youth were angry, and so they told us not to film what was happening, but one of the protesters, now deceased, Nasiru Yussif, spoke to them in Hausa, and they calmed down. So he and another guy formed a ring around us, so we could perform our duties. He was very active, following us wherever we went.”
“So they now allowed us to film the demonstration. Some of them were holding sticks, others having knives, and others also wielding machetes. Some of them were also angrily chanting their anger at the death of Kaaka. Nasiru directed which path to go. At a point, he directed us to a storey building from which we could film.”
When he quizzed as to how he would rate the actions of the military on the day, he said military personnel could have been a bit considerate.
Source: GhanaFeed.com