Wee suspects slash police officer

Abesim (B/A), Nov. 20, GNA- A suspected wee addict, at the weekend slashed the forehead of a police general sergeant with a sharp cutlass, when he and a colleague attempted to arrest two suspects at Abesim near Sunyani in Brong Ahafo.

Chief Sergeant Livingstone Yao Akubia was slashed four times on the forehead and was rushed to the Sunyani municipal hospital where he was treated and discharged.

Superintendent Charles Botwe, Sunyani Municipal Police Commander, who disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency, said the suspects managed to escape through a window but the mother of one of them had been detained to assist in investigations.

He described the attack as bizarre and rare in the municipality and promised prompt investigations towards the arrest of the two boys to be arraigned before court.

The attempted arrest of the boys followed an attack by some youth in the town on a community motor traffic personnel engaged with the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) last Friday. The irate youth nearly lynched Mr Stephen Adjei, a citizen of the town, but for his shouts for help, which attracted some neighbours to save him.

He however sustained multiple bruises on his body. Mr Adjei, 30, narrating his ordeal to the Ghana News Agency earlier said he was attacked by the assailants around 0600 hours that day as he made his way back home after a morning jog on the Abesim-Tanoso road. He said the youth alleged that he had given information to the police for the arrest of Indian hemp peddlers and smokers in the town. Adjei denied ever giving any such information to the police, saying he was rather attached to the MTTU and was not part of the police patrol unit.

He explained that the youth wielding weapons including cutlasses, catapults and stones pounced on him as he reached the outskirts of Abesim without any provocation.

Supt Botwe told the Ghana News Agency that before the attack Adjei had earlier reported to the police that the boys and their mother, whose names have been withheld for security reasons, had gone to his house to warn him to be very careful about his movements.

The police commander said Adjei told him the woman and her sons alleged that he (Adjei) had given information about their activities to the police for their arrest.

Supt Botwe said Mr Adjei reported the matter to the police who detailed the two police officers to effect their arrest, which led to the officer being slashed.