THE GHANA Police Service has offered a reward of GH¢10,000 for information leading to the capture of 16 hoodlums of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who perpetuated violence at the party’s National Youth and Women’s congress at Cape Coast on Saturday.
The party thugs, divided in the rival camps of Yaw Brogya Genfi and George Opare Addo, were said to have slugged it out at the congress, pelting each other with stones, blocks, sticks, clubs, chairs and other dangerous weapons.
The police, in a statement, said three persons sustained injuries in the incident, which also led to the destruction of property by the thugs, adding that it took their intervention to bring the situation under control.
Photographs of the suspects were released by the police after an initial review of the law enforcement agency’s footage of the event, which identified the 16 suspects.
The statement indicated that the suspects had been declared wanted, noting, “A GH¢10,000 reward has been set aside for any member of the public who can provide credible information to the police that can lead to the arrest of any of the suspects.”
“The photographs of the 16 wanted persons extracted from the police specific-footages are published for the public to assist us in this regard,” the statement emphasised.
It said an investigation was ongoing to further identify and arrest other perpetrators involved in the violence to face justice.
Condemnation
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the National Congress Planning Committee, Alex Segbefia, has condemned the incident, saying that the NDC is happy for the action taken by the police.
“These were not persons who had votes. They were not delegates. They just came forward to create mayhem. Once they’re arrested, the police will give us more information. As far as I’m concerned these are not card-bearing members of the NDC, I doubt they are,” he told Accra-based GHOne TV yesterday.
BY Ernest Kofi Adu