Calm returns to Agbogbloshie

Accra, Aug 26, GNA - Uniformed and plain clothes police personnel have been deployed at Agbogbloshie in Accra to maintain calm as well as gather intelligence on what caused bloody clashes there on Tuesday that led to the death of three people.

Chief Inspector Kweku Dompreh, Officer in-charge of Police Public Relations for the Accra Region, told the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday that calm has returned to Agbogbloshie area following the deployment of policemen.

On Tuesday Agbogbloshie, one of the major market centres in Accra, witnessed violent clashes that resulted in deaths and injury to three people.

Chief Inspector Dompreh said the police had not yet made any arrests but had stepped up investigations into the incident. He said the police had heard comments that the violence was politically and ethnically motivated but they would conduct their own investigations instead of relying on comments. Chief Inspector Dompreh said one of the injured people was treated and discharged but the remaining two were on admission. He said police personnel would remain in the area and cautioned residents to desist from criminal acts. The Police Administration has warned perpetrators of the violence stop it immediately.

A statement issued in Accra and signed by the Director of Public Affairs, Deputy Superintendent of Police Kwasi Ofori, said:"The police will take reasonable steps such as arrests and prosecutions to stop this violence. The police will not allow any person or group of persons to import violence into the capital city." It said the police were at Agbogbloshie to de-escalate the on-going violence and assured the public that because locality was a market area, efforts would be made to protect life and property. The police appealed to local chiefs and opinion leaders in and around Agbogbloshie to advise their kinsmen and followers to desist from the criminal acts.