The Police administration has mounted a strong defence over its decision to fiercely whip and fire tear gas at some of the protesters, who attempted to veer off the approved routes for their Wednesday demonstration.
The march was to demand a new voters’ register after the New Patriotic Party (NPP) said the current one had over 76,000 Togolese, and went ahead to say it is not credible enough for the 2016 general elections.
The Director of Operations at the Ghana Police Service, COP Kudaor, on Eyewitness News, explained that his officers were compelled to react with the horse whips, bartons and tear gas after the demonstrators failed to heed to their advice of sticking to the agreed routes.
“The use of tear gas was not our first response. The Police tried to negotiate with the demonstrators… They were spoken to but they refused, we used maximum force to push them but they refused and they were determined to get to our ranks so we had to use tear gas to achieve our aim…”
He further explained that their actions formed part of measures to control a riotous crowd.
We didn’t break rules
The Convener of the Group, David Asante in a separate interview on Eyewitness News however refuted the Police’s claims that they violated the rules.
According to him, the protesters were actually using the approved routes “when they heard gunshots.”
“We did not break the rules of engagement regarding the demonstration. I heard the gunshots and got to the scene and I witnessed real Police brutality and barbarism…,” Asante lamented.
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By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana