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Unruly youth
compel Hohoe Police to release suspects
Hohoe, Aug 7, Ghanadot/GNA - A
group of angry youth late Wednesday evening, forced the
Hohoe Police to grant bails to Abdel Kadel Usif and Abubakar
Sadiq, two persons arrested for allegedly disrupting voter
registration at Wli-Todzi near Hohoe.
The youth with red bands around their arms and foreheads
amidst chanting of war songs thronged the Hohoe Police
Station and mounted pressure upon the police to release the
two suspects.
Mr Kofi Adei-Akyeampong, Hohoe Divisional Police Commander
told the Ghana News Agency (GNA): "We had no other option at
that material moment than to grant bail to the suspects, who
had sustained various degree of injury."
He, however, assured that no amount of intimidation would
stop the police from carrying out an investigation into the
matter.
Mr Adei-Akyeampong said armed policemen and personnel of the
Ghana Immigration Service at the Wli-Todzi border post
arrested Usif and Sadiq, who were among a group of five,
attacked the registration centre and destroyed registration
materials.
Mr John Heh, Supervising Electoral Officer in-charge of
Hohoe Municipality told the GNA that he received information
from a registration officer at Wli-Todzi on Tuesday that
materials were in short supply and that some supporters of
the National Democratic Congress had alleged that some
non-Ghanaians were being registered at the centre.
He said he arrived at Wli-Todzi early Wednesday morning with
the registration materials, and just when he was about
leaving, a black Rexton car with registration number GE 6470
“E” belonging to Mr Prince Jacob Hayibor, Member of
Parliament for Hohoe-North arrived together with five men.
Mr Heh said those in the car suddenly began vandalizing
everything in sight including tables, chairs and
registration items.
He said two armed policemen and officials of the Ghana
Immigration Service, who were at the registration centre to
maintain security, gave warning shots which dispersed the
crowd and in the process the two were arrested. Mr Hayibor’s
car was also deflated.
Mr Hayibor told the GNA that indications were that some
foreign youngsters were being allowed to register.
Mr John Peter Amewu, Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive whom
the MP accused of being behind the alleged foreigners’
registration, denied and said politics was about strategies
and not brute force.
He said even if Mr Hayibor had cause to complain about the
exercise, there was no way he could justify that by
instigating the destruction of the registration materials.
"Why attack registration materials? Mr Amewu asked.
GNA
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