Abesim youth clash with police following accident

Abesim (B/A), July 13, GNA - Irate youth of Abesim, near Sunyani in Brong-Ahafo on Wednesday clashed with a 25-member police patrol team sent from Sunyani to restore order as a result of disturbances by the residents following a lorry accident in the town. The angry youth, numbering about 200, mounted a barrier in the middle of the main road in the town after a KIA Pregio vehicle, with registration number GT 864 U coming from the direction of Kumasi towards Sunyani knocked down three persons at about 1000 hours, They sustained various degrees of injuries.

A resident who claimed to be an eye-witness said the victims, Yaa Alex, 20, Felicia Obeng, 25, all apprentices and Louis Ahenkan, 20, were about to board a taxi-cab to Sunyani when the vehicle run into them. The police personnel fired tear gas when the angry youth started throwing stones and other offensive weapons at them, damaging the windscreen of the police patrol vehicle.

Some of the youth Ghana News Agency spoke to said there had been several accidents at the particular spot, recalling that on Tuesday, July 12, this year a taxicab knocked down two students of Olistar Preparatory School while on their way to school. The youth appealed for the construction of rumble strips on the road to avoid future occurrences.

Mr Kwaku Ayesu Opare-Addo, Regional Police Commander and Inspector Christopher Tawiah, Regional Police Public Relations Officer later visited the town after the police patrol team had left and managed to convince the angry youth to dismantle the barrier. Meanwhile, a source from the traditional area has attributed the accidents to spiritual powers, saying that a deity had existed at that spot that normally demanded human blood. "Unless something is done, the accidents will continue to happen", he warned.