Fans arraigned before court for rioting

Fiapre, (B/A) May 20, GNA - A Fiapre Circuit Court "B" on Thursday granted a GHC 10,000 self recognizance bail with a surety each to 18 suspects for rioting and unlawfully causing damage at Bechem at the weekend. The fans appeared before the court presiding over by Mr Benjamin Yaw Osei for causing damage to a number of Metro Mass Transit buses and three Police Service vehicles.

The accused persons were also alleged to have caused damage to two state vehicles belonging to the Tano South District Assembly an Urvan bus and a private Golf car respectively.

The fans would reappear before the court on June 3 with Mr Osei ordering the accused persons to report to the Regional Police headquarters in Sunyani every Monday morning at 9am till the adjourned date. The Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kwadwo Adjei told the court that the first four complainants are the drivers of the Metro Mass Transit buses.

He said on May 16 this year, there was a football match between B/A Stars and Bechem United football clubs played at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi. ASP Adjei said the outcome of the match did not satisfy supporters of Bechem FC after it ended in a 1-1 draw to enable B/A Stars to qualify to the Premier League. "Intelligence gathered by the Police and other security components in the Region was to the effect that some of the residents of Bechem had planned to attack supporters of B/A Stars on their return from Kumasi to Sunyani", he said.

The prosecutor said as a result of the intelligence gathered, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Security Council (REGSEC) imposed a curfew on the residents of Bechem on Sunday, May 16 from 6pm to 6am. Despite the curfew, the accused persons trooped to the Sunyani-Bechem highway with clubs, stones and sticks, ASP Adjei said. He said the accused persons blocked the road in front of the Bechem Commercial Bank and that the complainants some of whom were then returning after the match bordered the Metro Mass Transit buses with the exception of the Police vehicles were attacked by the accused persons between the hours of 7pm and 8:30pm on that day with the sticks and clubs which caused various degrees of damage.

One of the stones hit a passenger by name Ibrahim Mohammed on board one of the damaged Metro Mass Transit buses who suffered severe injury in the eyes and was admitted at the Brong-Ahafo Regional Hospital in Sunyani. Due to the severity of the victim's injury hewas transferred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra for further treatment, ASP Adjei added. ASP Adjei said following the riot the Police sent more personnel to Bechem to foil the onslaught, adding that the mob disregarded the peace moves by throwing stones at the Police vehicles. He said with the assistance of the military the accused persons were arrested. Mr Bukari Anaba Zakaria, District Chief Executive for Tano South who was in court, later in a brief with GNA Sports, appealed for calm and urged the youth to seek redress to their grievances through the appropriate channels. Meanwhile, Nana Fosu Gyeabour Akoto II, Omanhene of Bechem Traditional Area has called on the government to institute a probe into the circumstances leading to the disturbances last Sunday. In and an interview with newsmen at his Palace, the Omanhene noted that an earlier incident in which supporters and players of B/A Stars assaulted and manhandled some women and residents at the toll booth at Bechem could be the remote cause of Sunday's mayhem. The Omanhene explained that in that incident, B/A Stars after they lost 0-3 to Bechem United in their qualifying match vented their spleen on the innocent food vendors at the tool booth at the outskirts of the town. He said since then no action has been taken against the perpetrators of that act although investigations were conducted into the incident.