Kofi Wayo Takes On Police

The MAVERICK member of the New Patriotic Party and VIBE FM's Common Sense programme host, Charles Kofi Wayo, has attacked the Tesano police for allegedly manhandling suspects during an arrest last Sunday.

Mr Wayo claimed that he had to take a minor, Zuka Meri, 12, to the hospital because the police had included the boy in the arrest and brutalized him.

According to him, the police were looking for some squatters and the boy who was apparently sleeping at the residence of the squatters was brutalised after being arrested by the police. When he heard it he felt compelled to go and get them bailed.

Speaking to Chronicle at the Police Headquarters in Accra, Mr Kofi Wayo said in his bid to stop some of the police from brutalizing the suspects, he had reported it to a Commissioner of Police to intervene so that it would serve as a deterrent to other police officers.

Giving his side of the story he said, some police officers from Tesano Police Station and the complainant, Mr Bonsu, went to arrest some squatters who had caused damage to Mr Bonsu's heap of sand. Instead the police broke into the room of a squatter, Bello Rufai, who was not available then, and questioned his daughter, Fuseina and arrested Zuka Meri.

Mr. Rufai claimed he went to the police station to lodge a complaint but was also arrested and locked up in a cell for two days.

He also claimed to have lost an amount of ?25 million in his room during the raid by the police.

However when the Chronicle contacted the Tesano police, the district commander, Supt. Yaw Amponsah, justified the actions of the police by denying allegations that Mr Rufai lost ?25 million as a result of the raid.

He said, even though the matter was still under investigation, he had observed that Mr. Rufai had not been consistent in his statement because in his caution statement to the police he did not make any claim that his money had got missing; not until he was called again by the police before he made that allegation.

The Superintendent said when he queried him as to why he did not make such an allegation in his first statement, Mr. Rufai said he did but the police failed to write it in his statement.

Giving the facts of the case, he said the landlord lodged a complaint that his land had been encroached by some auto mechanics (fitters) that he had already served them with a notice to evacuate the land but they refused.