David Essandoh with General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong at the NPP Headquarters after his release
The Agona West Organiser of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), David Essandoh, was yesterday released by the Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI) after being arrested over a post he made on frequent power outages on Monday.
David Essandoh was arrested following a social media post claiming that “dumsor”, a term commonly used to describe persistent power outages, had returned.
Reports indicated that the post was accompanied by a picture of a billboard bearing the President’s image and the inscription “Dumsor is Back”.
Earlier yesterday, National Organiser of the NPP, Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, along with other national executives went to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service Headquarters to seek the whereabouts of David Essandoh, after attempts to reach him since his arrest on Monday proved futile.
Also at the police headquarters were Deputy General Secretary Alhaji Haruna Mohammed, National Youth Organiser Salam Mustapha, and a number of other party members.
Speaking with the media at the CID premises, Mr. Boakye said several attempts to locate the Agona West Organiser, including a visit to the BNI and office of the National Security, from midmorning yielded no results.
“He was arrested yesterday at 6 p.m. in his home but can’t be found anywhere. We have been to the National Security, we have been to the BNI, but we can’t still find him. You cannot intimidate us. You want to criminalise everything.
“They said that he posted something on social media with the President’s image and the words ‘Dumsor is back’. He has not made any criminal statement. As we speak, we don’t know his whereabouts, we contacted National Security, BNI, and they all said they don’t know his whereabouts,” Mr. Boakye noted.
The NPP General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, in an interview, accused the government of intimidation and abuse of power.
He mentioned that the actions of security operatives under the current administration are creating fear and undermining the rule of law, given how individuals who criticise the government are been targeted.
“Under this President, they are acting as if we are under military or dictatorship rule. The rule of law should work. This is not the first example. Anyone who speaks against the government will be picked up. Security operatives have put the law in their own hands,” he said.
He warned that such actions could encourage abuse and lawlessness if people are allegedly arrested without information on their whereabouts, adding that arrested persons should be granted access to legal representation.
“Because you want to keep the opposition silent, they are doing this. We cannot sit down and watch this impunity go on. NDC, enough is enough. At least if you pick someone up, let him have access to his lawyers. If the NDC thinks they are doing this to intimidate us, it won’t work. We will continue to speak against the government,” he added.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah