About 19 persons, including Mr. Mornah, were arrested by the Nima Police on December 16, 2017, when they gathered as members of the Ghana-Togo Solidarity movement, to hold a peaceful march to draw the attention of local and international authorities to the political crisis in Togo.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Lwd6R03ksfXJhhLRoMrsxbdaLknCTd50″]According to the Police, they had earlier permitted Bernard Mornah and his group to undertake the march, however, they informed him later to cancel it due to operational challenges and intelligence that another group was trying to interrupt their activity.

But Mr. Mornah denied the claim, saying that he had assured the Police the peaceful march required very little or no police presence.

Mornah also added the Attorney General to the suit, praying the court to declare that his rights have been trampled upon.

The PNC Chairman in his writ wants a declaration from the court to the effect that “my right to personal liberty has been violated… that my right to dignity has been violated… that my freedom of assembly, including freedom to take part in processions and demonstrations, has been violated…adjudge and declare that my right to administrative justice has been violated by the 1st respondent [IGP].”

He also wants the IGP and the Attorney General to compensate with “the sum of GHc136, 960.50 being the cost incurred by the Ghana-Togo solidarity movement in organizing the aborted rally.”

Police treated me worse than a drug lord

Bernard Mornah had earlier described the treatment meted out to him by the Police following his arrest as being worse than how convicted drug lords are handled.

“They just caught me like a cow, threw me in the bucket of the pickup as if I’m for the slaughterhouse. Two policemen jumped into the car with their guns on my head. When I pulled out my phone to call my lawyer, they said put off your phone or we’ll shoot you. They turned on their sirens, came onto the Kanda Highway and meandered through traffic with all motorists’ eyes on me. Escobar, the notorious drug baron, was not even treated the way I was treated.”

Kan-Dapaah ordered my arrest – Bernard Mornah alleges

Mr. Bernard Mornah is convinced that the frustration of his planned peace march was orchestrated by the National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah.

According to him, the minister took the action in order to protect the image of the Togolese president, Faure Gnassingbe, whom he claims is Mr. Kan-Dapaah’s close friend.

‘Defiant’ Mornah stages another Ghana-Togo solidarity rally

Despite being frustrated early on, Mornah on December 30, 2017, led his group to stage the rally in Accra to draw the attention of local and international authorities to the political crisis in Togo.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Mornah sues IGP; demands GHc136, 000 for ‘unfair’ arrest appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

About 19 persons including Mr. Mornah were arrested by the Nima Police for their initial attempt to stage the rally earlier in December.

[contextly_sidebar id=”phN4Cud6R9Ok986MLq9w1FQ1bYmzjawx”]According to the Police, they had earlier permitted Bernard Mornah and his group to undertake the march, however, they informed him later to cancel it due to operational challenges and intelligence that another group was trying to interrupt their activity.

But Mr. Mornah denied the claim, saying that he assured the Police the peaceful march required very little police presence.

The PNC Chairman had vowed to organise another rally, notifying the Police of the group’s intention as required by law, which they had also done prior to their previous attempt.

“As we speak today there are possessions that are going on in Togo. As we speak there is a rally that is going on in Burkina Faso there are rallies going on in Nigeria. All we are doing across the continent is to show country support for the people of Togo who are suffering for enhanced freedom,” Bernard Mornah said in an interview with Citi News after the event.

“For those who have said, that it is that it is Togo, come and talk about Ghana matter and forget about  Togo, they have forgotten that if there is fire at your neighbor’s house and you do not go to help to quench it, that same fire can be taken to your own home and you may also not be able to contain it and your neighbor will also sit down, so I see Togolese as part and parcel of Ghana and it important that we show that the Ghanaian people are not opposed to the struggling people of Togo’’ he said.

‘Like a cow for slaughter’

The actions of the group came under the spotlight after the police detained several of its members during its initial rally in Accra.

Bernard Mornah, narrating his ordeal at the hands of the Police when he was arrested after the first rally, said he had been bundled into a police vehicle and told that he “would be shot” if he attempted to make a call on his mobile phone.

He described his treatment as that of a cow being sent to slaughter, adding that the police had treated him worse than how some notorious drug lords had been treated when they were detained.

“They just caught me like a cow, threw me in the bucket of the pickup as if I’m for the slaughterhouse. Two policemen jumped into the car with their guns on my head. When I pulled out my phone to call my lawyer, they said put off your phone or we’ll shoot you,” he said.

“They turned on their sirens, came onto the Kanda Highway and meandered through traffic with all motorists’ eyes on me. Escobar, the notorious drug baron, was not even treated the way I was treated.”

When asked whether he was armed, Bernard Mornah responded: “I didn’t even have a car key on me.”

Police to face the law

Bernard Mornah and those arrested were kept behind the Police counter for hours without clarification about their exact offence.

This prompted his counsel, Dr. Raymond Atuguba to write to the police, Chief Justice, Attorney General and the President over the matter, demanding details about the arrest.

Bernard Mornah was however granted bail later.

He has since told Citi News that his lawyers will serve the Police notice of a legal action for the ‘unlawful’ arrest.

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By: Farida Yusif/Citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Defiant’ Mornah stages another Ghana-Togo solidarity rally appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.