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A father is seeking justice after his 17-year-old son was electrocuted while helping install a billboard near the Ankobra Bridge in the Western Region, as police opened an investigation into the incident.
The student, identified as Bernard Nyanzu, a final-year of Kikam Technical Institute, reportedly died on Sunday (25 January), after a high-tension power line sagged and came into contact with the metallic structure of the billboard, according to his father.
“He and another boy were on the billboard when a sagging wire touched the metal. Both fell, but my son did not survive. He was electrocuted,” the father Joseph Nyanzu Blay told Asaase News nearly a week after the incident.
He said students from the technical school had previously been deployed for similar contract work — a practice authorities had abolished — but the boys were allegedly sent out again to mount a billboard of Lands Minister and Member of Parliament for Ellembelle, Armah Kofi-Buah.
Police action
The father said he reported the incident to police, adding that the Criminal Investigations Department had opened a case and arrested the contractor responsible after pressure from the family.
The suspect has since been granted bail, and the case transferred to the regional police command for further investigation.
Officials from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) have been deployed to support the probe but were yet to respond to comments.
The grieving parent accused school authorities of withholding information, saying the headmaster told him the boy had not been attending school, while students had remained silent.
“I don’t even know whether my son was murdered or what. Even the doctors are not speaking to me,” he said, adding that the family was demanding accountability.
NDC chairman
He also criticised the absence of any outreach from the minister whose billboard was being installed, saying no delegation had come to commiserate with the family.
The party chairman who spoke to Asaase News said he was unaware of the development and that his “attention was just drawn to it”. His calls have remained unanswered.
The Ghana Education Service (GES), which oversees public schools, has yet to comment.
Police said the contractor involved has suspended operations pending the outcome of investigations.
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