Chief of Tamale calls for release of suspects arrested for attacking court

Traditional authorities have condemned in no uncertain terms the use of live ammunition by police to disperse a crowd following a misunderstanding between police and a cross-section of the youth in Tamale. The chiefs are also demanding the immediate release of all 13 persons arrested by the police as well as the motorbikes they seized.

Briefing the media after a crunch meeting between the chiefs and the youth, the spokesperson for the chiefs Alhaji Abdul Latif Sahanaa described the actions of the police as unprofessional. The chiefs, while condemning the acts of the police, called on the youth to exercise restraint as the relevant stakeholders continue to engage the police to consider a roadmap to ensure sanity between them.

A team of police officers from the national headquarters arrived in Tamale on Tuesday, August 29 and have since been meeting with the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and the traditional rulers of Tamale.

Six persons on Monday sustained various degrees of gunshot wounds following a confrontation between police and the youth at the Tamale District Court. The youth had besieged the premises of the court to demand the prosecution of Karim Osman, an alleged drug lord. Thirteen people were arrested by the police. Hundreds of motorbikes belonging to the youth were also seized by the police.

By: Emmanuel Kwame Amoh