Some seven supporters of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), suspected to have played various roles in disturbances in the Sissala West District, have been remanded in police custody after appearing before a Wa Magistrate Court.
The Sissala West Constituency Chairman of the NPP was one of the suspects remanded.
The seven, according to the police, are among over 100 persons who are currently on the run.
They have been charged with rioting.The court hearing took place amid heavy police presence. The youth, who stormed the DCE’s office, accused Mohammed Bakor, of engaging in “divide and rule†tactics.
The agitating youth also complained that they were being neglected in favour of people aligned to the DCE, Mohammed Bako.
Chief Inspector Daniel Yeboah of the Upper West regional police CID, prosecuting the case, said the seven suspects led a team of demonstrators with offensive weapons to attack the offices of the Sissala West district assembly on the 26 of last month
He said the DCE was ousted from his office in the process, bringing work to a close at the Assembly.
Chief Inspector Yeboah, therefore, charged the accused persons for conspiracy to riot and rioting with offensive weapons and prayed the court to remand the accused persons to make way for the police to apprehend some hundred others connected to the case.
Counsel for the accused, Ubaidu Bin Sadique, could not succeed in his plea for bail for them. Although he argued that the facts presented by the prosecution do not support the case, the court preceded over by Braimah Sydney upheld the request by the police and asked that the seven be remanded and to reappear on next Wednesday.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Sulemana Alhassan, earlier downplayed the incident, which he said stemmed from a minor disagreement between the NPP youth and the DCE.
Warning to police commanders
This development comes a day after the Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, warned that Police Commanders who fail to ensure arrests and prosecution in vigilante-related incidents will face sanctions
“If there is any vigilantism in your area, you must investigate and bring them to book otherwise the commander of that area – be it the village, district or regional commanders – must be sanctioned, we must stop it.
When incidents occur, you either tell us you’ve arrested the perpetrators and are investigating or you are sanctioned. Whoever it is that’s supposed to sanction but doesn’t do so, will be sanctioned as well. We don’t want any more stories,†the Minister said.
The government’s commitment to security has been questioned following the recent upsurge in the number of incidents involving political vigilante groups across the country.
Several groups of Ghanaian youth, believed to be members of the governing NPP, have gone on rampage at least wreaking havoc at state institutions and attacking public officials.
Credit: Citifmonline
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