INVESTIGATION STARTS INTO SHOOTING OF TUTOR AND BROTHER AT MAMPONG

Investigation has began to find out all the circumstances that led to the shooting to death of a tutor of the Nursing and Midwifery Training College at Asante Mampong, Francis Gbene, 33 and his younger brother, Thadeus Gbene, 29 on the campus of the College yesterday.

 While Thadeus died on the spot, Francis passed on while receiving treatment at the Mampong Municipal Hospital which is a walking distant from   the College.

 Francis Gbene aged has been teaching at the Asante Mampong Nursing and Midwifery Training College in the past five years. 

On the other hand, Thadeus Gbene, who comes direct after Francis as a sibling, has been living with the brother in an official bungalow on the College’s premises for sometime now as an apprentice plumber to the College’s official plumber.

 In fact, Thadeus had returned from their hometown of Chogsia in the Wa West district of the Upper West region at about 7 pm on Tuesday. 

Information gathered by Ashanti Today had it that there was an invasion by armed robbers in the neighbourhood of Francis at about 2 am yesterday, Wednesday February 10. 

Francis then asked Thadeus, his younger brother to join him on his official motorbike to report the matter to the Asante Mampong township to invite the Police to attend to the situation. 

Unknown to them, a neighbor had made a distress call to the Police who had already detailed some of their personnel to the vicinity by using another route. 

While still patrolling the area to find out the supposed armed robbers, Francis with Thadeus on  their GV-registered motorbike emerged from a corner of the vicinity and moving towards the other direction. 

The Police then trailed the two to the main College campus and fired at them ostensibly from behind. 

It was gathered that the Police fired more than one shot with some missing the target as was seen on a nearby building where a bullet had created a mark. 

Thadeus died on the spot while Francis was sent to the Municipal Hospital. Before his untimely death, he was teaching two subjects thus Human Anatomy and Physiology as well as Biostatistics and also doubled as the College’s Internal Estate Officer.

 Last Tuesday, just a day before the shooting incident, and at an Acaademic Staff meeting held at the Principal’s residence, Francis Gbene was given a third subject to teach upon resumption of lectures next Monday, the 15^th of this month.

 He would be handling Nursing Informatics. 

Another information gathered was that last Tuesday, it was Francis Gbene who sent the Principal of the College who has had a fracture on the right leg to the Hospital for medical care. 

The Asante Mampong Municipal Health Director, Jacob Amoah who has an oversight responsibility of the College and a lecturer, Mr. Anderson Sablah described the late Francis Gbene as being extraordinarily hardworkworking and never reneged on his responsibilities including unofficial ones.

 He was also humble, unassuming and respectful to all. Another younger brother, Isaac Gbene who also lived with Francis describe his late brother as the bread winner of the family whose lost would be very difficult to replace. 

Francis Gbene has been married to Cynthia Asimah for five years and they have a three and a-half year old daughter. However, they stay apart due to their jobs.

 Cynthia is a staff at the Sampa Office of the National Health Insurance Scheme in the Brong Ahafo region.

 She told our news Team that while receiving medical treatment at the Hospital, her husband called to tell her about his predicament. 

According to Cynthia, Francis said he could not foretell whether or not he would survive the accident and that in the event he died, she should have a keener eye on the daughter. 

During a visit to the Mampong Police Station to seek their side of the story, our Correspondent was told that the Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, ACoP Ampofo Duku, who visited the area in relation to the incident, had left for Kumasi with all the  four policemen who were detailed to the Nursing and Midwifery Training College in response to the distress call together with the District Commander to the Ashanti Regional Police Headquarters to assist with investigation into the incident. 

Meanwhile, the campus remains very calm with very little activity as the students are yet to report from their Clinicals.