Police nab 50 rioters in Ekpu

Police Headquarters, in conjunction with the Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service, have arrested 50 residents of Ekpu in the Half-Asini District during a dawn swoop yesterday.

The exercise, which started at 6:15am ended at 7:30am without any casualty, but officers remain in the community to maintain law and order.

Three hundred policemen, drawn from various stations in the region and Police Headquarters, took part in the swoop and those arrested are to be screened at the regional police headquarters in Sekondi-Takoradi.

The swoop was led by the Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Kwasi Mensah-Duku.

The arrests come on the back of an attack on the police station in the area after the alleged death of a suspect in custody.

The community rose against the police whom they accused of high-handedness in the death of Kwabena Assuah, alleged to have stolen a ladies dress and kept in cells beyond stipulation.

While the police say he died after being assaulted by cellmates, the community members are convinced policemen on duty assaulted him to death and attacked the police station a fortnight ago, manhandling those on duty and causing some damage.

During the attack on the station on March 29, 2017, policemen on duty were manhandled by the angry mob. The deceased was identified as Kwabena Assuah.

The mob attacked and damaged louvre blades and a police vehicle with registration number, GP 3200.

They overturned the police counter, smashed it and took away the station diary, register of offences book and other documents.

The district crime officer in his attempt to calm the crowd was heckled and chased away to the standby police vehicle, which had its windscreen smashed.

Briefing The Finder on the swoop, Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Olivia Ewura Adiku, said at 6:15am yesterday, national headquarters in conjunction with the Regional Command deployed eight Senior Police Officers and 284 other ranks and conducted the swoop at Ekpu.

She noted that the 50 arrested people are suspected to be involved in the vandalisation of the Half Assini Police Station on March 29, 2017.

On that day, she explained that the youth, numbering about 100, organised themselves amidst beating of war drums and chanting war songs and throwing of stones at the police.

ASP Adiku explained that police managed to arrest some suspects and the rest absconded.

She said the suspects have been sent to Western Regional Police Headquarters at Sekondi for screening and further investigations and those found culpable would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

Attack on police station

It would be recalled that some residents from the Ekpu community in the Half Assini District recently attacked the District Police station over the death of a suspect who was in police cells.

The deceased was in cells on suspicion of stealing a dress. He was denied bail and spent more than 72 hours in cells.

The community members accused the investigator in charge of the case of not being fair and denying bail for the suspect when community elders went there to stand surety for his release.

He was kept in the police cells for three days. On his second day in the cell, the deceased was said to have shouted a number of times and complained of seeing scary images inside the cell.

The deceased shared the cells with five other inmates, who alleged that they could not sleep because Assuah kept walking up and making noise.

In court

Five accused persons accused of beating the victim to death in police cells have since been arraigned at the Half-Assini District Magistrate Court in and have been remanded to reappear on April 27, 2017.

They are Mathias Armakah, 19, a vulcanizer; John Cudjoe 32, a palm wine tapper; Kofi Anlimah, 20, a mason; Nicholas Atsu, 27, and Kojo Ofori, 22, both fishermen. Their pleas were not taken.

In court, Police Sergeant Richard Amoah, told the court, presided over by Mr Abdul Majid Illiasu, that at 09:05 hours on March 26, this year, the deceased aged 48, from Ekpu near Half-Assini, was arrested over an allegation of theft.

He said the deceased who was detained, shared the cells with the accused persons and that on March 27 the deceased was alleged to have been scared of some images he saw in the cells.

The Prosecution said, as a result, he paced up and down the cells and in the process stepped on the accused persons who were sleeping on the floor.

He said at about 4pm hours the next day, Boah attempted to forcefully remove the Water Closet (WC) seat to enable him open the door leading to the cells so that he could go and swim in the sea since he said he was feeling some burning sensation on his body.

He said at this point the accused persons in a bid to stop him from destroying the water closet assaulted him.

The prosecution said hours later, the deceased was found lying on the floor motionless and was rushed to the Half-Assini Government Hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead.