A 30 year-old diehard Kotoko fan was gunned down by trigger-happy assailants believed to be part of the security forces near the Neoplan Station in Kumasi a few minutes after the Kotoko- Goldfields premier league encounter honoured at the Kumasi Stadium last Sunday.

Another fan, Hayford Brenya, a 36-year-old trader resident at B\A 90, Bantama, however escaped death and is on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

He is being treated for gun shot wounds he sustained in the left thigh.

Another bullet grazed his left wrist, making him bleed profusely from the wounds sustained.

Kwame Kusi, alias Nana Kusi, the deceased, who died on arrival at the Intensive Care Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) was shot in the abdomen, resulting in his intestines gushing out. His body has been deposited at the hospital's mortuary for post-mortem examination.

Kwame Kusi is a businessman who dealt in second hand shoes and resided at Abrepo, near Bantama. He hailed from Nyamebekyere, near Pokukrom, in the Ashanti Region.

Both Kusi and Brenya were rushed to the KATH for medical attention. Kusi was dead on arrival at the Intensive Care Unit, while Brenya was admitted for effective medical examination.

The incident occurred at the Neoplan Station, near Alhaji Salia Enterprise around 6 pm.

Some of the Kotoko fans interviewed said, they were disappointed about the average performance of their idol club and were reviewing the outcome of the match while trooping to Bantama when suddenly they heard three gunshots from the police riot control van behind them. Nana Kusi who was among the fans was hit at the abdomen and his intestines started gushing out.

He was seen falling down just after he called for assistance and was rushed to the KATH together with the other victim where he was pronounced dead an arrival.

Narrating his ordeal on his sick bed to the Graphic Sports at the KATH, Brenya said, there was absolutely no provocation from the fans to warrant such callous attack from the security forces.

He said just before the match, there were pockets of iced bag throwing incidents by some Kotoko fans against Goldfields fans at the Asokwa end of the pitch, but the security managed to bring the situation under control.

He said, the match itself witnessed no incident, but some of the Kotoko fans were quite disappointed about the average performance of their idol club.

Brenya said on their way home, the fans were reviewing the outcome of the match, and when they reached Neoplan Station, they heard three quick gunshots.

"Just then, I experienced sharp pains at my thigh and wrist and when I bent down to investigate, I saw blood gushing out from those places".

He said it was at that moment that he realised that he had been shot by the police who were then in a riot control van behind them.

A lecturer at the Faculty of Planning of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Mr. P.K.B. Asamoah who witnessed the scene at the KATH described the incident as very barbaric and uncalled for.

He said considering the May 9 disaster at the Accra Sports Stadium, the police should have known how to use weapons.

"I wonder why the police always want to use fire arms instead of water cannon to control crowd", he complained, adding, "even if the fans were causing trouble, should the police have used fire arms to control them?

Mr. Asamoah said "it is high time the police administration sat up and trained their personnel in a more humane way so that they would see their civilian counterparts as people to be protected and not enemies to be eliminated".

He called on the Inspector General of Police and the Minister of Interior to institute an independent enquiry into the incident to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book.

He said if Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama would make any headway in his battle against indiscipline, then it should start from the police administration to make them more discipline "because there is no way that an indisciplined Police Service can effectively control their civilian counterparts".

Commenting on the Incident, the Commander of the Police Buffalo Unit, Mr. I. K. Buaben said investigations are underway to know the one who actually committed the act.

He said it is too early to establish any fact because the police would have to find out about the kind of rifle and ammunition used. A source from the Police Public Relations unit however denied that the police fired any shot after the match.

According to the source, no live ammunition was given to any policeman on duty at the Kumasi Stadium, and wondered why the police are being accused for the incident. The source said after the match, personnel from the army and police escorted the players and officials of Obuasi Goldfields in a van and said no ammunition could have been fired from the van at the time the players and officials were being escorted.

The source however assured that, "full investigations would be conducted and when it is established that a policeman was at the centre of the incident, he would never be spared".