MP to drag Police to court over shooting incident at Manya Krobo

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Lower Manya Krobo, Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi has begun legal processes to sue the Police for indiscriminately shooting and causing injuries to some locals in his constituency.

The standoff between locals and Police over PDS mass disconnection exercise resulted in the amputation of a JHS pupil and death of a 24-year-old.

The 24-year-old was shot dead in the process with Seven others sustaining injuries.

Thirty-five (35) persons were arrested during the riot.

Three people were injured after a similar chaos at Manya Kpongunor over mass disconnection exercise by Power Distribution Services (PDS).

There has been a long-standing feud between residents and workers of ECG now PDS. In 2017, angry residents in Somanya attacked PDS office for overbilling.

Police vehicles were torched and properties destroyed in the violent attacks. Many residents have since refused to pay electricity bills and have threatened to attack PDS staff who attempt disconnecting their homes.

Energy Minister Peter Amawu later visited the troubled community and promised to constitute a committee to investigate the incident which is yet to be done.

Limb of Girl Amputated

The right leg of a candidate of the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) shot by Police during the protest by residents has been amputated by Surgeons at the St. Joseph Hospital.

The amputation started Wednesday morning by Orthopedic Surgeons after several diagnoses and treatment failed to heal the injured limp due to the gravity of injury.

Ruth Makathar, 18, student of Odumase Krobo Anglican JHS who was preparing to write the BECE which started June 10, 2019 but was unfortunately shot in both legs with a stray bullet after she was caught up in the Police clashes with the agitating power consumers while returning from market failed to take part in the examination.

Her right knee was penetrated by the bullet while the left leg suffered minor injury by another bullet she missed narrowly. she has since been paralyzed.

Ruth was first rushed to St. Martins De Porres Hospital with six others who sustained Various degrees of injuries but she was later referred to the St. Joseph Orthopedic Hospital.

Angry youth of Kpongunor organized a spontaneous protest to petition the Municipal Chief Executive for the Area, Kwaku Simon Tetteh, on their concerns on overbilling by PDS and its ongoing mass disconnection exercise.

The youth mounted roadblocks and pelted the PDS Staff with stones and sticks at Yohe, a community near Odumase Krobo when PDS staff went to the community to discontinue its mass disconnection exercise.

The irate youth smashed a PDS Nissan Pick Up with Registration Number GV 2318-1. It took the intervention of armed Police personnel to rescue the PDS staff.

PDS decided to switch off the transformer cutting off power supply to the entire area.

Shortly after the attack, the angry youth mobilized to embark on a protest to petition the MCE but the armed Police rushed to protect the Municipal Assembly Office by preventing the youth from entering the premises.

This led to clashes between the youth and the Police. Many warnings shots were fired to disperse the youth who also attacked the Police with stones and other implements.