NPP Boss Arrested

he General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Ohene Ntow, was arrested yesterday by the Police in connection with the massacre at the Abgobloshie Market last Tuesday which left three persons dead and others seriously injured.

According to Charles Amoah, one of the nine seasoned lawyers who accompanied Ohene Ntow to the Police Station, the NPP General Secretary was not charged but interrogated by a three-member police team led by the Regional Crime Officer, Supt. Emmanuel Frank Adufati, after which he was asked to write a caution statement and later given a self-cognizance bail.

Ohene Ntow was not told when to return to the station but was informed he would be called back as and when the Police deemed fit.

Reports said the Police initially objected to interrogating Ohene Ntow in the presence of nine counsels which they claimed was on a rather high side.

According to the interrogators, Nana Ohene Ntow was invited because his name had been mentioned in connection with the Agbogbloshie incident.

According to the police, when the NPP boys who met the Regional Commander and her team indicated that they were going to inform their general secretary about the outcome of the meeting, they had implicitly drawn Nana Ohene Ntow into the matter.

The NPP general secretary was said to have directed the boys to inform the police about their desire to return to the market, and that had been his crime.

One of Ohene Ntow's lawyers told DAILY GUIDE that the NPP scribe was only being law-abiding with his pronouncements.

Expressing shock at the development which 'had gone too far', Lawyer Amoah explained that Ohene Ntow was now officially a suspect in the case after having been invited to the Regional Police Command on Monday and Tuesday to explain comments he had made after the murders.

The Police were yet to arrest any suspect in connection with the murders that occurred in broad daylight in the presence of witnesses.

Initial reports suggested that two people had been arrested, but DAILY GUIDE checks revealed that nobody was picked up in connection with the Agbogbloshie massacre.

Last week, the Minority in Parliament mentioned the names of 7 persons whom they alleged, were connected with the killings of the three men who were supporters of the NPP. They were Sule, Mohammed Ayatu, Sahana, Awal Voulina Naa, Sule Nabiya, Abdalla Rasta and Abdalla Say.

The suspects belong to a group called 'Talibans' which is allegedly linked to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the market.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the deceased persons, Alhassan Fuseini, M. Suala and J.Y. Sule, who met their untimely death as a result of the massacre, were finally interred at the Madina cemetery yesterday.

The burial ceremony was held under very tight security, from the Police Hospital morgue to the cemetery.

DAILY GUIDE had earlier on learnt that the opposing factions were allegedly threatening to launch serious attacks on the already troubled family members and friends of the deceased persons.

For this reason, several armed police personnel were drawn from the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) at the National Headquarters, the Regional Headquarters in Accra and Madina to ensure that nothing was left to chance.

After Muslim burial rituals were performed, indigenes were advised to swallow their pride and make peace reign.

On behalf of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Agyepong expressed condolences to the bereaved family and called on them to leave vengeance to Allah.

He stressed that no more deaths should occur after this gruesome incident, challenging them to live together in unity to move Ghana forward The President of the Abudu Youth, Alhaji Mugisu Sibawey, also added his voice to the call for peace, urging his countrymen and women to exercise patience in all their endeavours because patience, as he put it, was a very important tool in building a civilised society.

“No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we should live as one people with a common aim of ensuring peaceful co-existence in our communities and Ghana at large,” he advised.

Alhaji Sibawey however appealed to government to make sure that their people who had been ejected from the Agbogbloshie market, come back to run their normal businesses again, since the place was where their main source of livelihoods were.

Chief Superintendent Paul Ayitey, the Madina Divisional Commander, who was also at the burial ground, counselled the family to let sleeping dogs lie, assuring that the perpetrators would surely be smoked out and brought to book.

“The burial has been done successfully and it should end here,” he cautioned.