The accused assailant, Osman, has since been granted bail as court proceedings in the court still run
The mill of justice has been known to grind slowly and even more slowly when it comes to the judiciary in Ghana.
But the family of the late Akazuo Moses don’t want to be left at the mercy of the snail-like pace of the system.
Reaching out, the spokesperson of the family, Akunyire Maxwell, detailed the facts about how their relative, Moses Akazuo, was shot by an assailant at a Quantum Oil Fuel Station at Paga.
The late Moses Akazuo was a worker of Quantum Oil fuel station
Moses Akakuo, was a pump attendant at the station and on the day of the unfortunate incident, he had reported at night to start the evening shift that he was slated for.
However, according to the family spokesperson, the rather peaceful night of Monday, 17th April turned chaotic when one customer was prevented from buying fuel at the station.
Akunyire revealed that, the customer, who is allegedly an owner of a competing fuel station in the area had arrived at the station with the intent of buying fuel.
However, another man, Osman, who also owned a fuel station in the area, arrived and asked the attendant, Moses, to stop vending fuel to the customer.
Osman reportedly revealed that the customer was trying to buy fuel with “malicious” intents.
The misunderstanding reportedly escalated quickly as Osman drew a gun and fire 3 shots. One of those shots reportedly hit Moses Akazuo, who had been standing by all this while.
After he was shot, the late Moses Akazuo was sent to the Tamale General Hospital
The injured Moses was quickly rushed to the Tamale Teaching Hospital, but died in the hospital on 19th April from the injuries he sustained.
The manager of the Quantum Oil Fuel Station called the police when Osman fired the shots and got him arrested.
But Osman didn’t stay as long in police remand as the Akazuo family would expect.
Akanbelum Peter, the youth chairman of Woligum, expressed shock that Osman was granted bailed even as he was being held on charges of manslaughter.
At the funeral of the late Moses Akazuo
He told YEN that even as family of Moses Akazuo took the matter up in court, the family of Osman visited to see how to settle the issue out of court.
However, the request by Osman’s family were flatly denied by the elders of the Akazuo family.
At the first court sitting on 4/05/2017, the case was adjourned to 18/05/2017 with the excuse that the police investigations were still ongoing and the command was yet to present the facts to the court.
They were told that the bullets from the crime scene had been sent to Accra for examination, however, at the second sitting on 18/05/2017, the case was again adjourned to 16/06/2017.
Akanbelum revealed that the police had told the state prosecutor pursuing the case that the person to examine the bullets had travelled thus they would have to wait.
But this was not the only surprise the family of the deceased got on that day.
The assailant had applied for bail on 4/05/2017, but was instructed by the court to submit a written application on 12 May.
“To our surprise, Osman was granted bail before 12 of May”, Akanbelum told YEN.
He continued to state that, with the release of Osman, friends and relatives of the late Moses Akazuo have been in a state of fear, afraid that Osman might attack them anytime.
“Some of our brothers and sister are still living in Paga, and Osman has seen most of us, we fear he can shoot those of us who have been consistently following the case”, he said with great concern.
The family of Moses Akazuo and the Woligum and Mirigu communities have been in disarray since according to Akanbelum.
The case has since been adjourned again to 17th June and Osman, the accused murderer still roams free as the family of Moses Akazuo and the Mirigu community grieve but with a veil of fear hanging on them.
Originally published here on June 16, 2017.