Police deployed to protect public facilities amidst illegal seizures

The police administration has put in a number of measures to stall the recent takeovers of state installments by some members of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Among the measures put in place are the deployment of officers to protect public facilities, gathering of intelligence and prompt response to vandalism. “In some case, the police as a result of intelligence gathered, managed to foil or prevent attempts by some miscreants to either vandalise or seize some state properties,” the police said in a statement on Thursday.

“At other times, the police were on hand to quell some acts of rowdyism or vandalism being perpetrated by some alleged party supporters.” There have been quite a number of cases of some party faithfuls taking over public property in the name of the government in power. Some of these takeovers have led to confrontations between the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

On Thursday, January 12, the opposition NDC called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to call his party’s supporters to order. But the police seem to have taken the issue more seriously than thought. “The police wishes to put on record that, a number of persons are facing court action for their involvement in acts of vandalism or attacks, including causing harm the political opponents, murder and setting state properties ablaze, which breaches occurred in the aftermath of the declaration of the 2016 general election results.”

The police also called for public support as it scales up effort to clamp the wings of the miscreants. “We are, therefore, calling on the general public to volunteer information to the police to enable us prevent these breaches of the peace and arrest perpetrators of these crimes.”