Navy Personnel On Rampage

... Injuring several civillians in the process

Twenty five naval ratings from the Sekondi Naval base, last Monday night reportedly went on the rampage in front of the Sekondi police station and inflicted several knife wounds on the civilian population without any tangible reason.

The incident, which occurred around 11 pm that fateful anight, saw the civilian population, who were around the area, running helterskelter to save their dear lives from being terminated by the soldiers who were reportedly wielding pistols, knives and sticks.

By the time their 'operation' was brought to an end, two of their victims, a 37 year-old taxi driver, Addo Yeboah, and Kwame Owusu Yeboa, 22, unemployed, were rushed to the Effia Nkwanta regional hospital for treatment due to the various degrees of injuries they suffered at the hands of the Naval personnel.

Addo Yeboah was said to have been slapped several times from behind until he fell down whilst Kwame Owusu Yeboah, who is a son of a police officer, was hit in the abdomen with sticks. The soldiers also slapped him several times in the face.

Both the deputy Western Regional Minister, Madam Horner-Sam, and the Commander of the Sekondi police confirmed the incident, when they were contacted on phone yesterday.

Investigations conducted by The Chronicle revealed that the soldiers claimed a civilian had assaulted one of them, so they organised themselves from the barracks and, holding sticks, pistols and sticks, stormed the area, popularly known as Komfo Ase and directly opposite the Sekondi police station, to assault any civilian they would find in sight.

It was during this attack that their victims mentioned earlier, suffered several degrees of injuries. The two victims, who were among several others that were thus assaulted for no justifiable reason, complained of severe pains in the eyes, ears and abdomen when they spoke to The Chronicle yesterday.

A medical report issued by the authorities at the Effia Nkwanta hospital and sighted by The Chronicle indicated that the victims were suffering from generalised bodily contusion as a result of the beatings by the soldiers.

Madam Sophia Horner-Sam told The Chronicle that the commander of the Naval base had promised her that full scale investigations would be conducted into the incident, which was also reported officially to outfit.

The Deputy Minister expressed regret over the unfortunate incident and promised that she would personally make sure that the case was properly investigated and the culprits brought to book to avoid future occurrences of such incidents.

The Sekondi police commander, on his part, told this reporter that they were going to write officially to the commander of the Naval base to supply the names of the soldiers who took part in the attack to enable the police take statements from them.

He also told The Chronicle that the soldiers claimed a civilian had attacked one of them, which was why they also reacted in that manner.

He, however, said the truth of the matter would be known after they had taken statements from the naval personnel.