An elected member of the Asutifi South District Assembly, Hon. Evans Apaah, has been assaulted to pulp by officers of the Ghana Police Service sta
An elected member of the Asutifi South District Assembly, Hon. Evans Apaah, has been assaulted to pulp by officers of the Ghana Police Service stationed at Goaso, in the Ahafo region.
The sad development occurred early on Monday morning, at a police barrier mounted close to the Zeniel Oasis Hotel, along the Hwidiem-Goaso road.
Per the reports from eyewitnesses to the shameful spectacle, the said Assemblyman had enquiry from the police officers on duty an operation they had mounted.
According to the reports, the two police officers who were at the checkpoint – only identified as Philip and Governor – had stopped a lot of tricycles (popularly referred to as ‘Aboboyaa’) which plied the road, and were demanding some monetary payments from the riders, before letting them go. The now victimized Assemblyman, Hon. Evans Apaah, when he chanced upon the scene, and enquired to know what was going on, was rudely retorted at by the officers, and told to mind his business. He reportedly announced himself as a member of the Asutifi South District Assembly, in whose jurisdiction the police barrier was mounted.
The reports have it that, some of the Aboboyaa drivers volunteered information on the ongoing illegality, much to the utter disapproval of the police officers. Hon. Apaah then reportedly pleaded with the officers to be considerate to the riders, since times are not normal and had to fend for themselves and their families, and could not cough up money so early in the morning. This did not sit well with the officers, as they descended on him, beating him with the buts of their guns, and landing hefty slaps and blows all over his face and arms.
It took the tricycle riders and other passersby to rescue the local legislator from the brutality of the police. The attack left him with bruises to the face and upper body, and as well, swollen eyes and cheeks. He has since been taken to the hospital for treatment.
Some riders and passersby did not mince words in describing the officers involved as very money conscious. They went further to narrate accounts of extortion they have suffered at the hands of policemen stationed at the same barrier.
In a worrying development, residents from Nkaseim, the small town in the Asutifi South district where Hon. Apaah is their assemblyman, have reacted angrily to the incident. Mews of the incident trickled in moments after he was taken to the hospital. The youth of the community are riled up, and are massing up at the town Centre. They are demanding for justice from the police hierarchy in the area, for their representative, and have vowed to go the full extent of retaliating against the said police officers if the police administration failed to bring their own to face the law.
Published By: Sir Phylose
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