Leader of the youth, Junior, wants the matter investigated and the officer brought to book
The shooting of a teacher in Wa in the Upper West Region last Saturday has triggered protest against the Police in the regional capital, whose action the youth have condemned.
The 24-year-old teacher, Ali Rashid, was shot at by a police officer who was stationed at the Wa main traffic light after he resisted arrest for ridding unregistered motorbike.
Rashid was said to have been pulled over by the officer who tried to remove the ignition key to the motorbike, but the teacher resisted and decided to speed off causing the police officer to shoot at him.
But the action of the officer has angered the youth of Wa who embarked on a peaceful demonstration through some principal streets of the town to register their displeasure about the incident. Wearing red armbands and headgears, the group numbering hundreds, demanded that the matter be looked into and the officer brought to book.
A team of military men called in to control the crowd were pelted with stones but they managed to bring the situation under control with the help of the leadership of the group.
Leader of the group, Yussif Junior, who initially apologised for the pelting of stones,told journalists: “We want to make our voice to be heard that it is hard time that the Police protect the people of this town. We have tolerated them enough”.
He commended the Regional Minister, Sulemana Alhassan, for intervening in the matter and called on him to ensure that the matter is investigated and the necessary action taken on the officer thereof.
Mr Alhassan described the Saturday incident as unfortunate and urged the youth to be calm and wait for the outcome of investigations into the case.
“What happened Saturday night was an unfortunate incident and please we want to say that nobody is happy about it; we are all sad about the whole thing. We want to assure you that you are our people. We are here because of you” he told the crowd.
He added: “If that gentleman had lost his life it would have gone against all of us. So we are going to make sure that it will not repeat itself again. We want you to be patient, try and exercise some restraint. Realistically, we are handling the matter”. He said the Regional Security Council met over the matter on Monday, noting the case is being investigated.
“Anyone found guilty will suffer for it” he assured and said even if the policeman has erred, there is no need to do anything that would disturb the peace of in the town, adding “Let’s all be calm, go back to our respective houses and work and wait for what comes of the investigation”
