Wa killings: Police debunks news of arrest of a second suspect

Correspondence from the Upper West Region

The Upper West Regional Police Command has denied arresting another suspect in connection with the recent killings in the Wa municipality of the Upper West Region.

After the arrest of Kankani Adongo, the prime suspect in the increasing murders, there were reports to the effect that a second suspect was apprehended on Wednesday, September 21, at

Read full article.Siiriyiri, a suburb in the Wa municipality.

Though the Police were yet to confirm the report or otherwise, the report had already found itself in the news, prompting a response from the Police.

In an interview with GhanaWeb's regional correspondent on Thursday, the head of the Public Affairs unit of the Regional Police Command, C/Inspector Gideon Ohene Boateng, debunked the assertion that the outfit had in their custody another suspect of the murders in the municipality in addition to the prime suspect.

While describing the report as creating fear and panic, he charged journalists to cross-check their facts well before going ahead to make a report. According to him, getting one's facts is more critical than rushing to get it all wrong.

"Such reports tend to create fear and panic among the people. The thing is that there has not been any second person (suspect arrested) as the reporter stated. Every piece of information that Police give must be for the consumption of the general public. The media must be circumspect in their reportage and the offices of the Police are widely open for any journalist who comes here for information.

"It's the authenticity of the story that's needed. The Police do not intend to deny the media of any information and so they must check and re-check their facts before putting it out there," C/Inspector Gideon Ohene Boateng clarified.