Parliament summons Nitiwul, Dery over military-police bloody clash in Tamale

The Defence and the Interior ministers have been summoned by Parliament over Wednesday’s bloody clash between a group of soldiers and some police personnel in Tamale in the Northern Region.

Dominic Nitiwul and Ambrose Dery are to appear before the House Tuesday morning to brief the MPs on the circumstances leading to the bloody clash and measures being taken by them to avoid similar occurrences in the future.

The soldiers, who were said to have been angered by the arrest of one of their men as a suspect in a case, stormed the Regional Police headquarters in Tamale where they opened fire on police officers injuring seven of them.

Some police personnel who were on guard duties at various points in the metropolis sited by the soldiers on their way to the regional police headquarters were also allegedly attacked by the angry military men.

Member of Parliament for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu on Thursday condemned the incident when he brought it to the attention of Parliament, and urged the Speaker to invite the two ministers for the Interior and Defence to appear to brief the MPs on what is being done to prevent such acts which he said was not the first to happen in Tamale.

“Mr. Speaker, I’m inviting you so that the Minister for Defence and Minister for Interior will be obliged to come before this House to assure the public that we are safe and secured and in particular, that the people of Tamale have no reason to want to live in fear and panic,” he prayed.

He argued security of the people remains a primary and secondary need of the peace and stability of every country, wondered why those who are to protect the citizenry were engaged in such bloody act.

“A breakdown of law and order can be a recipe for lawlessness apart from the fact that it will lead to, which I suspect is beginning to, the erosion of public and civil confidence in the security agencies to maintain law and order in the country and to safeguard our territorial integrity,” he observed.

He thus urged the Speaker Prof. Mike Ocquaye to “urgently request” the two ministers to “appear before this august House”.

Contributing to the submission by the minority leader, Deputy Majority leader Adwoa Safo, said majority leader “is in total support of the minority leader” on the matter.

She said every citizen of this deserves the right to life hence it is disappointing to the people of Ghana “the people or the personnel that we’ve entrusted in them to protect and ensure law and order are rather at loggerhead”.

Speaker Prof. Ocquaye obliged and gave the two ministers Tuesday to make appearance.

He said the two “should appear before this honourable House next Tuesday and appraise the house on these developments and measures being taken to arrest and prevent same ever occurring”.