Police Commander expressed shock at arms presence at stadium

The Commander of the Striking Force Unit of the Ghana Police Service Ben Kwami Ameleke, told the Stadium Disaster Probe Commission that he was shocked when he heard that his men took arms to the stadium on May 9 because he had instructed them not to.

He said the defiance of his order surprised and confused him when he found out on May 10, the day after the disaster, that Sergeant Quarshie had issued ten of his men, who were among the stadium details, arms and ammunition the previous day.

Led in evidence by Mr Miguel Ribeiro, counsel to the commission, the lanky Superintendent of Police said he briefed the stadium details from his unit to comport themselves while at their posts in order to distinguish themselves from other units who were also scheduled to work there.

He said, he specifically told them not to engage in ticket deals, which would tarnish the reputation of the Striking Force at this time of democratic dispensation, when the service is under public scrutiny. Superintendent Ameleke said he implored his men to arrest any member of the stadium detail that would misbehave and hand him over, personally, to him.

Mr Ameleke said he could understand why Corporal Wudah of the Striking Force Unit procured his arms from the Accra Central armoury without his authority, while his colleagues took their accoutrements from the Striking Force, which arms had not been exhausted.

Under cross-examination by Mr Sam Okudzeto, Chairman of the commission, the Striking Force commander said the armoury of his unit is too small and that makes storage and identification of arms very cumbersome. He said he has therefore decided to keep most of the arms belonging to the Striking Force at the Accra Central Division.

When he took his turn, Mr Jonas Ahene-Truly, a sports producer with Metro TV narrated how he helped some soccer fans break a padlock on the gate leading to the third stairwell at the Ade Coker Stand. He said he and some youth, he could not identify, used stones to shatter the padlock at the exit gate of the stairwell as many people were trapped there.

"When we broke the padlock, the gate opened by itself and some of the people fell down and it was then that I realised that two of those standing at the entrance had died on their feet," he said.

Mr Ahene-Truly said he and his cameraman could not capture the horrific gate scene because "my cameraman was behind me when I got there" He described the police action on May 9 as "a one sided war because while the police were armed, the fans had nothing and their attempts to escape were also hindered."

Mr Ernst Middendorf and Mr Cecil Jones Attuquayefio, coaches of Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak respectively, the two teams whose league match resulted in the death of over 126 soccer fans also testified.

Mr Middendorf said he was rather surprised at the police action, as they shot directly into the crowd, adding that there was panic among the fans while the shooting went on.

Mr Attuquayefio on his part said he was stopped by, a policeman when he tried to go toward the dressing room at the end of the match, while he was being mobbed by some Hearts fans. He said he heard about 10 shots within the period of five minutes but took no action to stop the shooting since it was not his responsibility to do so.