Seven suspects declared wanted for attacking a duty police officer in a captured video last month at a chief palace in Sang, Mion district of the Northern Region, have surrendered and been taken into custody at Yendi.
The suspects, Inusah Ali, Abdulai Inusah, Alhassan Yusuf, Osman Sham Una, Zakaria Alhassan, Abdul Malik Mohammed, Abdul Judas Hudu and Musah Abdulai, have been remanded and charged with obstruction and assault, Divisional Commander , Chief Superintendent Peter Kofi Ayerizeng confirmed to Starr News.
The police commander said the suspects were handed over to police by the chief of Sang, Naa Alhassan Musah, following a court order, after police investigators filed a lawsuit against him for shielding the suspects from arrest.
The suspects assaulted a police officer who was called by palace authorities on July 7, to rescue two suspected cable thieves about to be lynched by a mob. The mob was provoked by the presence of the officer and directed their fury on him.
In the video, believed to be recorded on a mobile phone, about ten rowdy mob surrounded the armed officer and engaged him in a fierce struggle to tackle him down and size his Ak47 weapon.
The mob was later restrained by the palace elders and the suspected thieves were taken into custody, and have since been charged and prosecuted, the police said.
More than half of the attackers were identified as “errand boys” of the chief, making their arrest very difficult. Police wanted to negotiate with the chief to release the attackers to face charges but he failed to cooperate.
Several weeks after the incident, angry police sources in the area posted the video on social media to draw attention on the conduct of the chief and also threatened to “deal with” the attackers if the chief’s interference persisted.
A day later, on August 3, the police launched a dawn raid in the Sang community and arrested one person identified in the video.
The police then declared nine more wanted and after many thwarted efforts to arrest the them, they filed a suit against the chief accusing him of sheltering the suspects.
The Yendi Circuit Court presided by His Lordship William Twumasi Appiah hearing the case for the first time on Friday, ordered the chief to immediately produce the suspects to the police.
The Police Commader said police investigations into the matter were progressing “without any confrontation”.
“Reference the obstruction and assault on a police officer at Sang Chief’s palace on 7/7/2018, be informed that seven suspects have been arrested and charged”, the commander said. “This figure excludes the one we arrested earlier who is currently in remand”
“We used the court system”, chief Sup. Kofi disclosed, adding “The chief was summoned before the court to produce them. That, he did”.
The divisional police chief went ahead to clarify that the local chief was not a subject of questioning and has been discharged after he handed over the suspects.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/Eliasu Tanko