Wa, Aug. 1, GNA – A man, identified as Mumuni Jatoa, a night security guard of a drinking spot, at Chorkor, a suburb of Wa, was on Sunday, found dead and shallowly buried in an uncompleted building.
Assistant Commissioner of police (ACP), Mr Reynolds Manteaw, the Upper West Regional Police Crime Officer, confirmed the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview.
He said the police heard the report of the incident on Sunday at about 1100 hours and rushed to the crime scene, where the body was exhumed.
ACP Mr Manteaw said the deceased was confirmed dead by Dr Abu Muslim at the Upper West Regional Hospital on arrival and the body was deposited at the same hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy before releasing to the family for burial according to the Islamic tradition.
He said at the time the body was exhumed, marks of violence were seen around the neck of the victim with the stomach cut open.
The Crime Officer said the police had begun investigating the incident and urged the general public to volunteer information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.
According to the family of the deceased, he was about 65 years old and left behind seven children.
The family said the deceased left the house on Friday, July 29, 2022, after the evening Muslim prayers to his duty post but did not return home until his lifeless body was found in the uncompleted building around his duty post on Sunday morning.
Mr Boore Naa, a relative of the deceased, told the GNA that the family raised an alarm on the evening of Saturday, July 30 and a search for Mumuni Jatoa, now deceased, began.
“We all prayed together on Friday before he left for work and Saturday evening he had not yet returned so we informed each other and started searching for him, first at his farm, then at his workplace but we didn’t find him.
“We then went to the police station, in case he has committed an offence and arrested but we didn’t find him, we also thought of possible accident so we went to the hospitals but didn’t find him there too”, he explained.
Mr Boore added that a search in the uncompleted buildings at his workplace revealed a spot suspected to be dug and refilled with fresh grasses uprooted and placed on top of the sand, which prompted the search team to inform the police.
Mr Simon Abu Puhinaa, another relative, expressed hope that the police would do a thorough investigation and apprehend the perpetrators of the heinous act.
This is the third similar incident recorded in Wa within this year with the latest victim’s stomach also cut open.
Source: Ghana News Agency
