NDC lawyers in a heated argument with some police officers
One of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawyers who accompanied a radio presenter to the Police Headquarters in Accra for questioning yesterday, made a chilling threat to the police officers handling the case.
Victor Kojogah Adawudu, during an argument with Criminal Investigation Department officers, said, “You have families, you have wives, you have children, we know where they are so do it well,” after the police said they were detaining Oheneba Boamah Bennie for allegedly threatening the life of President Akufo-Addo.
Mr. Boamah, who is a presenter at a pro-NDC private network based in Accra, Power FM, was invited because, according to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), he posted a video on December 10 at about 12:54pm in which he was heard insulting and issuing threats on the life of President Akufo-Addo.
The suspect honoured the invitation yesterday and was accompanied by NDC lawyers, some of whose unruly behavior at the Police Headquarters was visible.
The lawyers that accompanied the radio presenter included Adawudu, Francis Xavier Sosu and Dr. Basit Aziz Bamba.
There was a near scuffle at the car park of the CID Headquarters when the law enforcement officers decided to detain the radio presenter for further investigation.
The NDC lawyers said they wanted to know where the suspect was going to be detained and said they asked for a bail which the police refused.
Mr. Adawudu, throwing tantrums, even said he was ready to ‘die’ at the scene.
Mr. Sosu, who has just been elected as the NDC MP for Madina, said cynically that if the police sent the suspect away they were going to ‘kill’ him.
He then told the suspect that if the police did not reveal where they were taking him to he should not sit in the police car, then Mr. Adawudu also retorted “we shall all die here. Don’t go anywhere!”
At a point, Mr. Sosu wanted to sit in the police car but they police refused him that opportunity.
They said they wanted to follow the car taking the suspect away but the police locked the entrance and they became stranded for a while.
Initially, when he got out from the conference room where he was being questioned, Mr. Adawudu warned the suspect not to make any statement.
However, when he came to stand beside the vehicle that was to send him to detention, the suspect started invoking curses on those he said recorded the video that had landed him in trouble.
Mr. Adawudu later said “they showed us a video and an audio. Our client confirmed he was the one. Now they are saying he would not be granted bail and therefore they are sending him to the Central Police Station. The police initially said they would not tell us where they were sending him to.”
He then politicized the matter, saying “this country does not belong to one person!”
The police said they were provisionally charging the presenter for offensive conduct, causing fear and alarm and publishing false information.
There were pockets of NDC supporters in front of the CID Headquarters bus stop to show solidarity to the suspect.
Mr. Adawudu then told the supporters to ‘march’ to the Accra Central Police Station and they were seen running on foot as directed.
Interestingly the lawyers later sat in their luxury cars and left the scene.
By Linda Tenya-Ayettey