A group calling itself Anlo Youth Council (AYC) says the brutal attack by the police on a group of unarmed demonstrators in Ho last Wednesday is an indication that the law enforcement agency is curtailing civil liberties.
�It is unfortunate that this event is occurring at a very crucial juncture in our relationship with the state when campaigns and elections are just around the corner with increased parochial political activities and interests from all sides.
They have therefore asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Paul Tawiah Quaye to as they put it �call his men in the Volta Region to order before they are overtaken by events.�
A statement issued by AYC and jointly signed by Mayor Agbleze, President and P.Y. Tsikata, Secretary, which was copied to the media and the Volta Regional House of Chiefs said �the days when police officers were laws unto themselves are indeed over and they must regard that epoch as an awful chapter in our history.
�We on our part are not surprised at these turn of events since police officers like Bernard Guyiri Derry, in the case of the Volta region, and others in the murder of Alhaji Mobila still walk around freemen, in the face of their grievous crimes against humanity. There can only be one outcome � lawlessness and unprofessionalism among the police.�
The group said the brute force being demonstrated by the political authority through the use of state machinery cannot solve the widening gorge between the chiefs and the people of the Volta region on one part and the region�s administrators and the security services on the other.
�Clearly, the administration and the security apparatus are on borrowed time, opportunity and pleasure. In this bliss, they cannot and must not allow their fantasies to fool them,� AYC said.
The council urged President John Evans Atta Mills to let those �shouting deception� around him to �shut up� so that he could hear clearly what they called �the humble voice of dissent coming from the Volta region and other places across the country.�
�We are all aware you cannot satisfy all Ghanaians, but we believe you appreciate that the onus is on you to show probity, accountability and fairness in the distribution of our collective resources, rights and responsibilities, then everyone can quietly await their due in peace.�
They said while awaiting the President�s statement on what they described as �unwarranted arrests in his name,� AYC is also demanding an unqualified apology from the Regional Police Command for assault, dereliction of duty and deceit of the public.
<<Print>>