Ejura Probe: “Military shot to maim, not kill” – Commander tells Committee

The Commanding Officer of the 4th Infantry Battalion responsible for military operations in the Ashanti Region has told the Committee of Inquiry into the Ejura shootings that his men shot to maim and not to kill protesters.

The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Kwesi Ware Peprah appeared before the Committee on Wednesday, 7th July 2021 to present his evidence and testimony to the Committee.

According to him, the Commander on the ground mentioned to him that the protesters fired at them after warning shots had been fired to disperse the crowd. This is what necessitated the return fire.

“Then again, I called the patrol responsible for Mamponteng to go and assist. When they got to the police station, they were briefed by the Ejura Police Commander, and then they decided to move to where the protesters were approaching from.”

“According to the Commander on the ground, they fired a couple of warning shots and in the process they were fired at from weapons suspected to be pump-action and locally-manufactured weapons and therefore they had to return fire to maim, unfortunately, we lost two of the protestors in the process”.

The three-member committee was set up at the instance of the President to investigate some shooting incidents that occurred in Ejura in the aftermath of the burial of social activist, Kaaka. Some two more persons were reported dead as a direct result of this incident.

The committee began its work on Tuesday.