10 Granted Bail Over Gbese Riot

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, 21 June 2007
TEN people, including a female charged with rioting at a ceremony to lift the ban on drumming and noise-making at Gbese in Accra, were yesterday granted ¢20 million bail each with one surety by an Accra circuit court.

They are Daniel Nii Armah Tagoe, a hairdresser, Daniel Klottey, Obodai Torgbor, Armah Tagoe, all fishermen, and Otu ‘Commetey, a toll collector in-charge of the Gbese public place of convenience who the police suspected supplied human excreta to smear the Gbese Palace.

The rest are Samuel Pappoe, a trader, Pappoe Afful, Isaac Addo, all students, Kofi Kamaru-Deen, a tailor, and Emelia Nii Quaye.

They pleaded not guilty to two counts of causing unlawful damage and rioting with weapons and are to report again on July 16 for hearing to commence.

Presenting the facts, DSP Eric Amoako told the court, presided over by Mrs Jennifer Tagoe, that on June 6, the Accra South District Police Command, led by Superintendent Nana Afful, went to Gbese to provide security for the ceremony and in the course of their duty, the accused persons were arrested for rioting.

"On arrival, the police observed that human excreta had been smeared all over the Gbese palace and other parts of the area," DSP Amoako told the court.

He said with the assistance of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), the security team cleared the palace of the excreta and in the process, a group including the accused persons, allegedly arrived at the ceremony grounds and started throwing stones, broken bottles, and more human excreta at the police and those gathered there.

The rioters caused damage to a police vehicle (GP 1421).

He said Commetey, who is a caretaker at the Gbese public place of convenience, opened the storage of the facility and supplied more excreta to the rioters.

Police fired teargas to disperse the crowd before the ceremony commenced.

When the police arrested the accused they found five stones and a knife on Pappoe, the prosecutor said.