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 Police release 134 persons arrested during swoop

Police release 134 persons arrested during swoop

All the 134 persons arrested by the police during last Saturday's swoop at Changli, a suburb of the Tamale Metropolis in the Northern Regional capital, have been released after screening.

The Northern Regional Crime Officer, Superintendent Kwabena Otuo Acheampong, who confirmed the release of the 134 persons to the Daily Graphic did not give the reasons assigned for their release.

He said the 134 persons had been released on police enquiry bail to be reporting to the police.

The police in the Northern Region last Saturday dawn conducted a swoop at Changli in their bid to arrest some persons in the community alleged to have subjected three police officers to severe beatings.

The three police officers, including a female, went to the community on April 16, 2020 to effect the arrest of a suspect in a theft case but they were allegedly attacked by some residents, resulting in the female officer falling unconscious and being admitted at the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) for three days. She is said to be recuperating from the injury she sustained during the attack.

Aftermath

Since the swoop on the community last Saturday, the police in the region have come under severe criticism for their alleged highhandedness and brutalities meted out to some residents of the area.

During the swoop, a journalist with Accra-based television station, TV Africa, Mr Mohammed Baba Kamil, who was at the scene to report was also reported to have been hit by a stray bullet.

However, the Regional Crime officer, Supt Acheampong, has since discounted the media reports that suggested that he (Kamil) was hit by a stray bullet.

Mr Kamil who sustained injury on his head was treated and discharged on the same Saturday at the TTH and has since given his statement to the police.

The Northern Regional chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in a statement issued last Monday, April 20, called on the Northern Regional Police Command to institute an investigation into the cause of the injury of Mr Kamil.

The police has obliged the GJA and commenced investigations into the circumstances leading to the injury of the journalist and have called on eye witnesses to come forward with what they know about the issue.

Court action

Meanwhile the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale Central, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, in an interview has threatened to sue the Northern Regional Police Command for what he termed as their "unprofessional conduct" following the raid on the Changli community last Saturday.

He alleged that the raid on the community by the police had left a young girl with a stray bullet in her head and she was due for surgery to remove the bullet yesterday, April 22.

Alhaji Inusah Fuseini said the girl who was sleeping in a room was awoken by the disturbances in the community and was hit by a stray bullet on her head.

He said property including doors and TV sets were destroyed during the raid on the community by the police.

Residents

Meanwhile a press conference planned by the community last Tuesday, April 21, was put off as the community leaders said they were moving round to get the signatures of community members to attach to their statement to petition the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to register their displeasure about the incident.

Some residents who spoke to the Daily Graphic claimed it was rather innocent residents who were arrested by the police during the raid.

A resident who only gave his name as Rashid claimed the police destroyed the property of residents during the raid and subjected some of them to beatings.

Related development

Meanwhile the suspect who escaped arrest in Changli on April 16, 2020 which resulted in the attack on the three police officers was put before the Tamale District Court, last Tuesday, April 21.

The accused, Mohammed Iddrisu Sahadatu, 38, was charged with two counts of assault on a public officer and resisting arrest, after which he was granted bail in the sum of GH₡3,000 with a surety.

He would reappear before the court presided over by Mr. Yusif Amadu on May 5, 2020 for the case to continue.

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