Thursday, 28 March

Bawku Conflict: 12 suspects to be arraigned today

Crime
The 13 were arrested in connection with chieftaincy disturbances in the community

Some 12 suspects arrested for their alleged involvement in the Bawku conflict will be arraigned today, Tuesday, 4 January 2022.

The female and eleven males were arrested and detained in connection with some chieftaincy disturbances in the community recently.

There were reports of gunshots in Bawku in the early hours of Monday, 27 December 2021 that led to the destruction of property and loss of lives.

A similar incident occurred on Thursday, 18 November 2021 that led to the imposition of a curfew on the town.

Prior to the renewed clashes, there were records of sporadic shooting in the community while attempts were made to perform the final funeral rites for a chief who had been dead for 41 years.

A press statement issued by the Bawku Mamprugu Youth Association described the continuous detention of the 13 persons for more than a week after their arrest as a violation of their human rights.

The statement said: “We would want to make it clear to the government or the state that our kinsmen are being treated like animals who have been caged without any rights.”

The group continued: “Our kinsmen, numbering 11 men and a woman, had been arrested and sent to Accra and locked up at various police cells. Our lawyers have done all that is legally possible for the police at the CID division of the police headquarter to release the suspects on bail either on police inquiry or before a court of competent jurisdiction as constitutionally required in respect of their fundamental human rights.”

“Our information is that the Interior Minister has turned himself into a court of law and given instructions that our kinsmen should not be released”.

“Whatever the reasons, only Ambrose Dery can tell. For someone who is not just a lawyer but also a lawmaker to wantonly break the law and gleefully state that he does not mind paying compensation to the detained for his negligence and using taxpayers’ resources to unlawfully detain our kinsmen, is most disappointing,” the statement added.

 

 

Source: classfmonline.com/Elikem Adiku