Former Member of Parliament(MP) for Okaikwei North, Fuseini Issah has called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) George Akuffo Dampare to bring his officers to order in the handling of riotous situations.
To him, “if the Police should take an action and they don’t take it properly, it could result in death…when the Police fail, people die. So, the Police should not fail”, therefore admonishing them to act professionally when controlling the agitated crowd.
His comment is in relation to the recent clash between students of the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi and the Police where the Police fired tear gas to disperse the irate students who were demonstrating against frequent pedestrian knockdowns by motorists.
Following the incident which resulted in about 25 students and a number of policemen being taken to hospital for medical attention, the IGP visited the victims to assess their condition.
A statement by the Ghana Police Service indicated that some officers have been sanctioned.
The acting Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwasi Akomeah-Apraku, and two others have been interdicted over their management of the chaotic scenes that characterized Monday’s protest by the students of the Islamic Senior High School.
The other interdicted officers are ACP George Ankomah, the Regional Operations Officer; and ACP Alex Cudjoe Acquah, the Suame Divisional Police Commander.
The Police say their interdiction is to make way for a thorough investigation into the incident.
Speaking on Peace FM’s “Kokrokoo” programme Wednesday morning, Hon. Fuseini Issah advised the Police to learn better ways of protecting lives and avoid escalating matters to turn into tragedy.
“We hope that the Police don’t only investigate but as they engage in their investigations, they have to be prepared that if a riot of like manner happens anywhere in Ghana, they are ready with the appropriate tools to protect lives because the Police are like a medical doctor. When he fails, people die and when people die, you cannot replace them.”
Source: peacefmonline.com
