‘He slapped me’ - Journalist who was allegedly ‘attacked’ by Farouk Mahama recounts

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Yendi constituency, Farouk Aliu Mahama, is reported to have attacked Mohammed Aminu M. Alabira, a journalist with Citi TV/FM, during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary primaries.

According to a citinewsroom.com report, in the course of the counting process, violence erupted when one of the electoral commissioners was caught destroying ballot papers belonging to Farouk Mahama’s opponent, which led to chaos.

The victim, Mohammed Aminu, when narrating his ordeal, disclosed that he was slapped by Farouk Mahama and his people also pounced on him to beat him and took away his mobile phone.

He added that it happened when he approached the MP to enquire about the chaos that was taking place.

“It was the MP [Farouk Aliu Mahama] who slapped me, and his people kicked me and took my phone away. I was reporting on the violence that was happening during the counting process, so I asked the MP why that was happening, and he got up and came and slapped me, and his people also started beating me up,” he said, according to citinewsroom.com.

He further noted that it took the intervention of the police for him to be saved from being beaten to a pulp after Farouk Mahama’s supporters had threatened to deal with him.

“It was the police that rescued me, and I was there with them in the company of the divisional police commander, and Farouk [Aliu Mahama] came and blocked the entrance.

"So, we were kept in the bus for more than one hour before we called for reinforcement from the Ghana Armed Forces, who came and rescued us because his supporters were threatening to pelt the bus with stones,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has arrested one suspect and is on a manhunt for the rest of the culprits over the violence that marred the NPP primaries at Yendi.

“The persons are suspected of damaging electoral materials during the sorting of ballots in the ongoing internal parliamentary elections of the New Patriotic Party. The Police worked together with the Military, in line with our established protocols, to restore law, order, and security in the area.

"No persons were injured during the disturbances. We wish to assure the public that all persons behind this unfortunate act shall be arrested and prosecuted per the law,” the police statement said.

According to the report, Mohammed Aminu M. Alabira has received medical attention and has officially reported the case to the Yendi Police Service Divisional Police Command.

SB/AE