Wa serial murders: Driver found dead with throat slit

A driver’s mate, identified as Richard Opoku, has been found dead with the throat slit in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region.

The body of the deceased was found in a pool of blood on Monday morning, July 15, 2024.

The deceased and his master reportedly transported a trailer loaded with salt to Wa over the weekend.

Upon arrival in the evening, the driver and his mate agreed to offload the salt to the owner, identified as Rahman Umar Farouk, the following morning because they were tired.

Rahman Umar Farouk then requested the duo to spend the night in his house, but the driver declined and agreed to spend the night in the trailer.

Richard Opoku, on the other hand, agreed to spend the night with the owner of the salt.

According to Rahman Umar Farouk, upon arrival at home, Richard requested to spend the night on his veranda instead of his room.

However, Rahman Umar Farouk woke up the following morning and realized Richard was nowhere to be found, but there were blood stains on the floor and the mat he lay on.

After a thorough search, Richard was found murdered and dumped behind the trailer with a deep cut on the throat.

The body of the deceased has since been deposited in the morgue by the security personnel in the municipality.

This inhumane incident happened at a time when the residents of Wa in the Upper West Region had staged a peaceful demonstration to express their displeasure over the alleged killings of over 13 people, including two security guards, over the last three years.

The protestors clad in red attire and carrying placards with the descriptions, “We have nowhere to go, Ghana is all we have, every life matters, we want justice, res­idents are living in fear, we need answers from authorities,” among others.

The Convener, Mr Morris Banaam­wine, presenting a petition to the Upper West Regional Coordinat­ing Director, Mr Peter Maala, indicated that the protest was aimed at drawing the atten­tion of the government to the serial killings in the Wa Township and demanding swift action from the authorities to help restore peace and hope among residents. “so many lives have been lost and we have not seen anything, is it because we are poor, if the au­thorities do not react on the sit­uation, we will fight for our self, we believe and trust in the law but the law is failing us, enough is enough,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Wa Central, Dr Rashid Pelpuo, has offered a GH₵100,000 reward to any individual or group who can provide credible information leading to the arrest of suspects behind recent killings in Wa.

Source:theghanareport.com