Posted on:
www.dailyguideghana.com
By William Yaw
Owusu
Thursday, December
15, 2016
A group of policemen believed to be part of the security detail of
Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho allegedly unleashed terror on agents
of the independent parliamentary candidate of Akatsi South constituency in the
Volta Region in the just ended general election.
The policemen, apart from harassing the agents and monitoring team
of the independent candidate, also assaulted some of them and even shot one in
the thigh.
The independent candidate Lawyer Evans Gadeto Djikunu who almost
snatched the seat from the ruling NDC confirmed the intimidation by the police and
said it made it impossible for his campaign team to monitor activities in all
the polling stations suggesting that might have given his opponent the
advantage.
He polled 11,976 while the incumbent Bernard Ahiafor polled 16,916
to retain the seat which was until last term occupied by Mr. Adjaho.
Narrating the incident, Mr. Djikunu said the policemen patrolled the
constituency in a black land cruiser belonging to the Speaker and were going
about harassing people who were perceived to be against the ruling party on the
election day and it was his monitoring team and some of his polling agents that
suffered most.
He said when voting was almost ending at a polling station in Wuxor,
the DCE of Akatsi South came to the place and he made frantic phone calls and
suddenly, the Speaker’s land cruiser appeared on the scene to park.
A few minutes and without any provocation, the policemen who had
brought the vehicle and were in the company of known NDC members in the
constituency started manhandling members of the independent candidate’s
monitoring team.
According to Mr. Djikunu, the policemen then shot and deflated all
the four tyres of the vehicle his monitoring team was using and also shattered
the windscreen before ordering them to lie face down.
“After beating them severely, they shot one of them in the thigh and
he bled profusely. In view of the fact that the said police officers were giving
warning shots indiscriminately, it was difficult for any of those standing by
to get close to the scene of the incident,” adding “after the dastardly act,
they hurriedly conveyed them in a white pickup which was seen behind the
victims ' vehicle and drove off.”
According to the candidate, the policemen sent them to Ziope Police Station
and later locked them up at the Kpetoe Police Station in the Adaklu
Constituency at a time some of the victims were bleeding profusely from gunshot
wounds.
He said attempts to have the victims bailed by the police were
refused until he went to the Regional Police Commander in Ho the following day
before the police in Kpetoe granted the bail.
He said the Akatsi District Police Commander under whose
jurisdiction the incident occurred refused to act on the case when it was
reported to him.
According to him, he and his executive together with the Regional
Crime Officer and some other police investigators went to the scene of the
incident at Wuxor where used or empty shells or cartridges were picked up on
the ground.
Mr. Djikunu vowed to ensure that justice is done in the matter so
that all perpetrators of the said act would be brought to book.
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