Naro murder case: Deceased’s family unhappy with Attorney’s advice

The family of the late Patrick Banoebuuri, who died at the Naro Immigration checkpoint in the Nadowli-Kaleo District,has expressed discontent about the State Attorney's advice and subsequent withdrawal of the case against the accused persons.

It stated that the decision of the State, through Mr Abdul-Shakuur Saeed,the Principal State Attorney in the Upper West Region,to withdraw the case was a denial of justice for their relative.

Mr Richard Banoebuuri, a brother of the deceased, who stated this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency(GNA) in Wa, appealed to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General to reverse the decision to ensure their relative got justice.

The accused persons were Senior Inspector Adjei Boadi Philip,aged 36; AlCO II Abdulai Rawuf Abubakar,aged 22; AlCO II Nkrumah Alex, aged 33; and AlCO II Philip Oppong,aged 28, all stationed at Nadowli-Kaleo District,all officers of the Ghana Immigration Service(GIS) stationed at the Nadowli-Kaleo District.

Others were Pogee Antaa Julius, aged 38, a Unit Committee Chairman of Naro Electoral Area,and Logu Seidu,aged 49, a farmer based at Naro.

He explained that written statements by some of the suspects indicated that Patrick Banoebouri was handed over to the GIS officers healthy and the officers admitted on tape, available to the State Attorney, that they received the deceased in good health.

He said they suspected an interference in the trial of the case, which might have influenced its withdrawal from the Wa Magistrate Court, where the accused persons were being tried.

“We disagree with the State's position that neither charges of murder nor manslaughter could be sustained (against the accused person)”, he stated.

Patrick Banoebouri died at the Naro Immigration Checkpoint when he was being disciplined by some officers of the GIS for allegedly stealing sheep.

Mr Saeed said his advice followed a review of the autopsy report conducted on the victim, Patrick Banoebouri.

In the advice, he indicated that the post-mortem report of Patrick Banoebouri identified the cause of death as “Acute Subdural Hematoma and Blunt force Head Trauma”.

Mr Saeed, therefore, said the cause of the death could not be connected to the bodily injuries,which the police reported after examination of the body, so charges of murder or manslaughter could not be sustained against the suspects.

However, Mr Banoebuuri observed that there was no“logic” in the State's reasoning for arriving at its conclusion that the bodily injuries were caused by the suspects but the cause of his death was not by them.

He questioned: “Could the blows from the beatings not have struck his head?Or does the State have a different understanding of what causes these conditions?”

Mr Banoebuuri said they would not give up on the case until justice was served to their relative.

According to the facts of the case, Patrick Banoebuuri,now deceased, allegedly stole 18 sheep on 6th March 2025 and was arrested by the members of the community.

A total of 14 out of the 18 alleged stolen sheep were retrieved,and he was set free, but was subsequently apprehended by the two civilian suspects and handed over to the GIS officers to be disciplined,in the course of which he allegedly died.

GNA