Tamale, Ghana – Residents of Changli, a suburb of Tamale have petitioned the Minister of the Interior to transfer senior police officers at the Northern Region Police Command who sanctioned the dawn raid of their community that saw at least 200 residents severely brutalised.
The residents are also demanding a full scale investigation into the alleged police brutalities in the area.
The petition, which has been copied to the office of the Inspector General of Police and the Gbewaa Palace said even though the conduct of the “miscreants” who assaulted the police woman is condemnable, the police acted unprofessionally during last Saturday’s raid.
It said residents of Changli expected the police to have demonstrated faithful ability to protect the freedoms of the people, instead of constraining it.
According to the petitioners, about 86 houses were ransacked and a total of 209 people were assaulted with varying degrees of injury.
About 136 residents were arrested while 72 doors of people’s rooms were destroyed. At least 10 TV sets, 16 motorbikes, four laptops and two polytanks were also damaged.
They also claim a total amount of Gh¢9,940 and 26 mobile phones went missing after the raid.
There has been no comment yet from the police on the petition.
By Mumuni Yirifa Yunus