Military and Police move to smooth over tensed relations

Kumasi, June 7, GNA - The Military and Police High Commands had agreed to hold a joint durbar to smooth over the tensed relations between soldiers and the police in the Ashanti Region.

It comes on the heels of the weekend's reported brutal attacks on so me police personnel, who were on duty at different points in the Kumasi Metropolis by soldiers said to be from the Fourth Battalion of Infantry (4BN). Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Patrick Timbillah, Regional Pol ice Commander, said there was the need for officers and men of the security agencies to peacefully co-exist and ensure good conduct. He told a press conference in Kumasi that this was necessary to avoi d endangering national security.

Both the military and the police shared a common goal of protecting the

nation's interest and as such they should operate on the basis of mutual understanding and good neighbourliness at all times. DCOP Timbillah pledged that the joint military-police patrol to com bat crime in the region would continue. He appealed for calm as the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) investigated the cause of the attacks.

Twelve police personnel were injured in the attacks and they are; Constables Abass Aidoo, Hannah Serwah, G.K Mensah, G.J Amedzor, E. Ofosuhene, L.O. Boateng and Wahyee David. The rest are; Inspector Jacob Gyekye, Lance Corporal Tetteh Mensah,

Lance Corporal Opoku Agyemang Prempeh, and Sergeants Peter Oppong and E. Obuoman. The victims received treatment at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). Earlier, on May 20, some soldiers angered by the arrest of one of their drivers by the police Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) for driving

without a driver's license and log book assaulted the police at Suame. A similar incidence took place two days later, when another soldier attacked an MTTU officer for questioning him for careless driving.