Demonstration Against Police In Bolgatanga

A group calling itself the Concerned Youth of the Upper East Region on Thursday, staged a peaceful demonstration against the Police in the region for incessant acts of extortion of monies from vehicle users in the region, especially within the Bolgatanga Municipality. The demonstrators catalogued their grievances in a three-page petition to the Upper East Regional Minister, Alhaji Limuna Mphammed-Muniru. The demonstrators, who went through the principal streets of Bolgatanga, carried placards some of which read �God Save us from the Police�, �the bad nuts should not spoil the name of the police� �MTTU we are Fed up�, �Bolga Police why do you collect our money and stake lotto� �commander call your men to order� and �we are not slaves in Bolga.� The demonstrators alleged that the extortion of money was aggressively, fearlessly and openly done. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Isaac Alex Quainoo challenged residents in the Municipality to come out with evidences of having paid monies to any police officer so that the necessary action could be taken against him or her. DCOP Quainoo said it was unfortunate that the very people who complained about police officers extorting monies from them would be the same people who would be quick to cover up, to save the offending officers. He pledged that the Police Administration would continue to play its dutiful role as a law enforcing agency and warned that the Police would not condone criminal acts and appealed to the public to report any police personnel who engaged in any kind of offending conduct for the Police Administration to take action. �We are not enemies, we have to punish people for not doing the right things. We are there for one another,� he said. The demonstrators marched to the Regional Coordinating Council to present their petition to the Regional Minister but missed him as the Minister had gone to Bawku to address an assembly meeting.