Madam Agartha Donyina, the mother of one of the four persons who sustained gunshot injuries when military personnel allegedly fired into a group of protestors in Ejura, has said her son was shot while entering a pharmacy to buy medicine, and that he was not part of the protest.

According to the woman who appeared before the three-member committee probing the Ejura disturbances in Kumasi, her 20-year-old son, Loius Ayikpe, who’s a final year Senior High School student, had only returned home from school because he was sick, and was not part of the protest.

She said the boy left home to a friend in the Zongo community, and that her attempt to reach him on phone proved futile until she was called later and informed that her son had been shot dead.

She said it was later when she visited the Ejura Government Hospital that she was asked to calm down because her son was not dead, and that a scan was to be carried out on him.

“After he was stabilized, the Doctor asked me to go home, but I was later called that we should take him to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, where he was later operated upon. He’s still at the hospital. The doctors told me the shooting also affected his intestines” the distraught mother narrated.

“On Tuesday, June 29, prior to the incident, my son told me he was going to buy something from the drug store. So when he was just about to get to the place, he felt something hit his stomach and he thought it was stone, but when he touched it, he saw blood.”

“So he asked for help from a lady, but the lady drove him away, and then later he saw a man he knew, so he rushed to the man for help, but he lost consciousness that moment.”

When asked by the Committee what she wanted to be done for her, Madam Agartha Donyina demanded justice for her son.

She also lamented the financial burden placed on her as a result of the severe injury caused to her son; considering the fact that she has three children to cater for as a single parent.

“All I want is for this Committee to unravel the true circumstances that led to the incident; and justice for my son, and the other affected persons. That is all we want now. I am a single parent taking of three children and everyone here can attest to the difficulties that this unfortunate incident will bring on us.”

The Committee members, who were very sympathetic towards the woman, encouraged her to be strong in the Lord as a Christian and stand by her child.

They expressed the hope that her son would recover and reunite with the family. The Committee thanked her for appearing before them and promised to make the needed recommendations to the government for the necessary steps to be taken.

About the Ejura violence
The violence occurred during protests that followed the death of Ibrahim Muhammed.

Ibrahim Muhammed, alias Kaaka Macho, died after he was attacked by unknown assailants on June 27 while returning home.

He’s believed to have been killed because he was critical of the government.

The 45-year-old was noted to be vocal on both local and national issues using his Facebook page.

Police in the Ashanti Region have since arrested three persons in connection with his death and put them before the court.

Ibrahim Muhammed was buried on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, alongside the two others who died in the protest.

Meanwhile, one of the four injured persons, a sixteen-year-old boy, has also had one of his legs amputated at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.