GH� 7,000 For Six Lost Teeth

Samuel Doku Abouah, the 32-year-old carpenter who lost six of his teeth after being clutched by a police officer stationed at the Ningo-Prampram District, has been compensated by the area�s police with GH�7,000. Aside the GH�200 the District Police Commander personally gave him to support his expenses when he started visiting the hospital, the District Police Command, in addition, paid all the medical expenses the victim incurred. Samuel Abouah told The Finder that the Ningo-Prampram District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Paul Bampo, was very helpful and caring, and expressed immense gratitude to the commander for seeing to his compensation. On May 19, last year, Abouah was hit on the mouth with a truncheon by Frank Tetteh, a police officer at Old Ningo. The victim lost six of his teeth and became unconscious. The incident happened around the Old Ningo Police Station, where the police officer was on a special operation duty to check and impound unregistered motorbikes. Abouah and his wife, Esther Ayitey, were riding home from church on an unregistered a motorbike when Tetteh ordered Abouah to stop. Abouah said he stopped some few metres away from where the officer was standing. The victim said Tetteh rushed towards him and angrily asked why he did not stop where he was standing. �Before I could disembark from the bike to explain, he heavily struck me on my upper lip with his club, thus sending me unconscious and was rushed to the Tema Polyclinic,� he said. Abouah explained that he lost six of his teeth and sustained a cut on his upper lip. DSP Bampo maintained that the policeman did not deliberately hit the mouth of Abouah with the truncheon to cause him damage. He said, �It is the victim�s words against the accused policeman�s words. The accused cop said he was rolling the truncheon when it accidentally hit the complainant and victim, thereby causing him the unfortunate harm.� That notwithstanding, DSP Bampo said he believes police personnel would learn from the accident and know how to handle their truncheons and other offensive weapons to avoid a similar mistake in future.