Joseph Nii Moi Allotey (left) and Nii Ago Aryee (right) suffered tear gas inhalation.
Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw Owusu
Thursday June 16, 2011.
Fishermen whose peaceful demonstration was violently disrupted by the police on Tuesday have recounted the harrowing experience they went through at the hands of the men in black.
“We embarked on the peaceful demonstration to give support to the government to enforce a ban on the use of light for fishing but the police treated us like common criminals causing injuries to some of our members,” Nii Ago Aryee one of the leaders of the fishermen groups lamented.
Daily Guide sought to know what motivated them to embark on the demonstration and what really transpired as sections of the public continue to condemn the disproportionate force applied by the police in dispersing the innocent fishermen.
The police on Tuesday violently disrupted a peaceful march at the Castle cross roads in Accra when they fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse innocent fishermen who were drawing the government’s attention to issues affecting the fish industry in the country.
Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, Nii Amasah Namoale had justified the attack on the fishermen, saying that the Castle junction was a security zone and therefore the demonstrators could not take the law into their hands.
The fishermen who were between1500 and 2000 in number drawn from various coastal towns had started the peaceful march at James Town to present their petition to President John Evans Atta Mills.
Matters came to a head when the demonstrators tried to cross over from the Independence Square to the main junction linking the Castle in an attempt to accompany their leaders to present the petition.
The police who had positioned their riot control equipment and vehicles at the cross road started firing rubber bullets and tear gas indiscriminately causing pandemonium among the demonstrators.
In the process, three fishermen were hit by stray rubber bullets while the rest were drenched in tear gas.
“At a point I thought something was going to happen to me. The whole place was covered with tear gas. I had to wet my shirt to be able to contain the situation,” Nii Ago Aryee aka Onyame Ndae recounted.
“We went to the Independence Square, Accra without any offensive objects. We only held placards but they showed us that power is sweet.”
Nii Ago Aryee said they can no longer bear the hardships they are going through adding “our businesses are collapsing as a result of the rampant use of light for fishing, persistent shortages in pre-mix fuel as well the high cost of outboard motors.”
He said for instance that pre-mix fuel has become scarce while the price for outboard motor has moved from GH¢ 4,900 to GH¢ 6,000 within two years.
He said the use of light for fishing is fast depleting the country’s sea resources and predicted that bumper fish harvest would soon go away if the practice is not checked.
Joseph Nii Moi Allotey, another leader of the fishermen groups said “some of our colleagues were fascinated about the serenity of the Castle and were only pushing closer to catch glimpses of the edifice but the police misinterpreted it to mean that they were becoming violent.”
He said they would not relent in their bid to get the government to stop the use of light in fishing and added that if it was not checked they would advise themselves.
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