A young man in his late 30s from the Sherigu community in the Bolgatanga Municipality of the Upper East Region was shot dead by unknown assailants. What might have triggered the barbaric act is yet to be established, but eyewitnesses have it that the young man by the name, Atambila Rockson was returning home from the Sherigu forest on Tuesday 31st October 2023 when he met his untimely death.
The sources say the late Rockson was riding a motorbike when the attackers, without a word, shot him from close range, killing him instantly. Other community members who were also returning home from the Sherigu forest ran into the scene and were not spared.
The attackers beat the victims severely and bolted with a Sirius motorbike belonging to one of them. The body of the young man was conveyed immediately by the police to the regional hospital morgue for preservation. On Wednesday, 1st November, the body of late Atambila Rockson was released to the family for burial.
The murder of the young man has sent shivers to residents of the Sherigu community, as such incidents are rare in the tight-knit community. Residents are in disbelief and struggling to come to terms with the tragedy. Some of the residents who spoke to A1 Radio suspect the murder of the young man was well-calculated.
“If they were armed robbers, they would have stopped him and demanded his motorbike and money but the attackers saw him coming and targeted him. He was shot at a closed range and the bullets penetrated through his ribs leading to his death. This is a target killing and we cannot rule out the Fulanis in this case but we believe that God will expose the killers”, an eyewitness who spoke under condition of anonymity stated.
The angry youth of Sherigu who accompanied the body from the morgue to the family house at Sherigu-Yeobisi are calling for a thorough investigation by the security services to ensure justice is served. They described the late Rockson as a kind and gentle person who was loved by many in the community.
The Ghana Police Service remained tight-lipped on the issue with an assurance that they were investigating the incident to determine the motive of the barbaric act and to apprehend the culprits when A1 Radio contacted them.
The gruesome murder of the young man adds to a series of events that threw the community into a state of insecurity. In June this year, some community members were arrested and put behind bars for attacking Fulanis residing in the community. The community members had accused the Fulanis of robbery and attacks on residents.
Another incident that brought fear into the community was the murder of a 21-year-old student of Gowrie Senior High School in May 2020 in the community. The body of the student was later found near a refuse site with his eyes plucked out, part of his head shaved and his intestines hanging out.
This series of killings led to the construction of a police station in the community by the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central constituency, Isaac Adongo to maintain peace and order. Sadly, the project which cost the taxpayer a whopping amount of Ghc 357,000 and was funded through the MP’s share of the District Assembly Common Fund now known as the Constituency Labour Fund is yet to be occupied by the Ghana Police Service.
Municipal Chief Executive for Bolgatanga, Rex Asanga during a public gathering lamented bitterly about the failure of the police service to take over the facility and other similar posts in the municipality to protect lives and properties of community members.
