The police brutality: When the emblem of NDC turned into a deadly weapon!

I could not believe my eyes and ears when I watched the video clip of a police officer physically assaulting a breastfeeding mother inside the banking hall of a Savings and Loans Bank in Accra.

But upon listening to the victim morosely narrating her ordeal on Peace FM’s evening news on Friday 20th July 2018, I had no option than to abandon my earlier incertitude over the veracity of the video clip.

In fact, I believed her story. She was brutalised by a schizophrenic police officer without any provocation whatsoever. How cruel, how uncaring, and how unprofessional some police officers could be?

According to the lady, she has been somehow denied access to her meagre savings of GH250 by the said Savings and Loans Bank staff since last week Thursday.

Apparently, she did not even have a pesewa to purchase her two and half month old baby’s food, and therefore decided to revisit the said bank on Thursday 19th July 2018.

She left home early in the morning and headed to the local branch of the said bank. She arrived at the bank premises at around 7.30am and waited patiently until the bank’s opening time.

After a short while, the bank was opened for customers. She was seen briefly by a bank teller who asked her to take a seat and wait. She nonetheless obliged without a wink.

After a few hours wait, she was recalled by another teller who informed her that the bank’s intra network was down.

She was, however, given an option to either wait for a while or come back the next day.

Obviously, the lady had no other option than to wait till the system is restored. So she sat and waited patiently to collect what belongs to her (GH250).

Unfortunately, however, she was ignored throughout the remaining hours until the closing time of 4.30pm when the hot-headed police officer approached her and asked her to leave as they were about to shut the doors.

But in a state of puzzled countenance, she politely informed the police officer that she has been asked to wait and collect her money. However, the uncaring officer was not prepared to buy her obvious sound explanation as he bizarrely stood by his earlier directive.

So out of desperation, the lady politely asked the officer if he could kindly lend her GH25 so that she can buy food for her baby and reimburse him when the bank effect payment the next banking day.

It was at this juncture that the seemingly ill-tempered police officer became incensed and started hurling invectives at her direction.

As if that was not enough, the aggressive officer gave her two big slaps on the face in quick succession whilst carrying her baby at her back. How cruel and inhumane?

The officer then hit her repeatedly in the head with an umbrella (an emblem of NDC). The umbrella has turned into a deadly weapon.

The pugilist officer then followed up with flurry of jabs in the full view of the nonchalant bank staff. Strangely, however, they did not do anything to rescue the poor lady from the mad dog. How unkind?

Believe it or not, I shed tears uncontrollably listening to her ordeal at the hands of someone who has been entrusted to protect lives and property.

At the moment, we cannot resist but to squall in one voice and beseech the hierarchy of the Ghana Police Service that enough is enough, so they must weed out the uncouth and the Neanderthals in their midst without delay.