Evans Djikunu attending to one of the victims on admission
A group of policemen believed to be part of the security detail of Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho allegedly unleashed terror on agents of the independent parliamentary candidate of Akatsi South constituency in the Volta Region in the just ended general election.
The policemen, apart from harassing the agents and monitoring team of the independent candidate, also assaulted some of them and even shot one in the thigh.
The independent candidate Lawyer Evans Gadeto Djikunu who almost snatched the seat from the ruling NDC confirmed the intimidation by the police and said it made it impossible for his campaign team to monitor activities in all the polling stations suggesting that might have given his opponent the advantage.
He polled 11,976 while the incumbent Bernard Ahiafor polled 16,916 to retain the seat which was until last term occupied by Mr. Adjaho.
Narrating the incident, Mr. Djikunu said the policemen patrolled the constituency in a black land cruiser belonging to the Speaker and were going about harassing people who were perceived to be against the ruling party on the election day and it was his monitoring team and some of his polling agents that suffered most.
He said when voting was almost ending at a polling station in Wuxor, the DCE of Akatsi South came to the place and he made frantic phone calls and suddenly, the Speaker’s land cruiser appeared on the scene to park.
A few minutes and without any provocation, the policemen who had brought the vehicle and were in the company of known NDC members in the constituency started manhandling members of the independent candidate’s monitoring team.
According to Mr. Djikunu, the policemen then shot and deflated all the four tyres of the vehicle his monitoring team was using and also shattered the windscreen before ordering them to lie face down.
“After beating them severely, they shot one of them in the thigh and he bled profusely. In view of the fact that the said police officers were giving warning shots indiscriminately, it was difficult for any of those standing by to get close to the scene of the incident,” adding “after the dastardly act, they hurriedly conveyed them in a white pickup which was seen behind the victims ‘ vehicle and drove off.”
According to the candidate, the policemen sent them to Ziope Police Station and later locked them up at the Kpetoe Police Station in the Adaklu Constituency at a time some of the victims were bleeding profusely from gunshot wounds.
He said attempts to have the victims bailed by the police were refused until he went to the Regional Police Commander in Ho the following day before the police in Kpetoe granted the bail.
He said the Akatsi District Police Commander under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred refused to act on the case when it was reported to him.
According to him, he and his executive together with the Regional Crime Officer and some other police investigators went to the scene of the incident at Wuxor where used or empty shells or cartridges were picked up on the ground.
Mr. Djikunu vowed to ensure that justice is done in the matter so that all perpetrators of the said act would be brought to book.