A motorist who allegedly crossed President Kufuor’s motorcade recently, is alleged to have been brutally assaulted by the police and arraigned before court. He has been charged with dangerous driving and nearly causing an accident after, which he failed to produce his driver’s licence for inspection by the police.
The motorist, Nana Attafor Asmah who was driving a Mitsubishi space-wagon was accused of ignoring the Presidential siren and crossing the presidential security details who were ahead of the President’s convoy.
The police report read in court said the driver failed to stop and rather sped off. He was given a chase and arrested on the Spintex road by members of the advanced security detail. Reports say Nana Asmah during his arrest, failed to give any tangible reason for the offence, but rather denied that he had driven dangerously across the path of Presidential motorcade.
According to him, at about 10.30 pm on the said day, he was driving around the Tetteh Quarshie Circle in Accra when he heard sirens blowing from afar, but since they were not in sight and he drove on. However, after entering the Spintex road and on driving for a while, he noticed bright headlamps flashing from his rear.
Thinking that the driver behind him wanted to overtake him, he pulled-up but the occupants of the car crossed him and parked in front of him. Two other cars parked at his side and at his back, sandwiching his car. The occupants who were police officers resorted to brutally assaulting him with the butts of their gun and dragged him out of his car unto the ground.
They then raised him from the ground, put him into one of the cars, subjected him to both verbal and further physical abuse and drove him to the Airport police station. He was then thrown into cells without any charge against till about 9am the following day when he was brought out and asked to write a statement.
A medical report issued by the Airport clinic, certified that Asmah suffered multiple tender spots of the inner jaw, contusion of the right ankle, joint and multiple facial abrasions as a result of the encounter with the guards.
