Parliamentarian causes arrest of 70 people

The Evening New

Saamang (Eastern Region) -– Saamaang, a farming town in the East Akim District of the Eastern Region is boiling with rage, following a dawn swoop on the town by the police last week. The police raided the town and arrested all male adults they came across. About 70 people were picked, out of which a few were released later.

A few others who managed to escape into the bush have warned the Koforidua Police Command to release those arrested or face the “consequences.” They have also vowed to do justice to Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, MP for the area who, according to them masterminded the swoop.

Mr Kenneth Owusu, a victim of the swoop who called at the offices of “The Evening News” in Accra on Monday to narrate the incident, said the confrontation started when Mr Ofosu Ampofo led a contractor to the town’s forest to fell trees. He said the youth whose lives depend so much on the forest, vehemently resisted the attempts by the contractor to fell the trees.

According to him not even a letter purported to have come from the Okyenhene Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin’s palace appealing to the town’s folk to allow the felling to go on would convince them. Mr Owusu said they also rejected an offer by the contractor and the MP to pay every farmer for every tree fell.

According to Mr Owusu the whole township was surprised when they found out that an illegal road had been constructed from Bunso into forest to facilitate the sector transportation of the logs. On realising the harm the contractor and the MP wanted to cause to the forest, Mr Owusu said the youth blocked the road in an attempt to stop them from carrying the logs away.

Consequently, he said one of the trucks carrying the logs skidded off the road, injuring one of the policemen who had accompanied the contractor into the forest. Later after the incident, he said three soldiers visited the town and patrolled all corners, apparently to study the topography of the town.

Then at dawn on Thursday, February 21, hundreds of policemen invaded the town and arrested all male adults. He said Mr Ampofo had earlier warned that he would “show them where power lies” if they continued with their resistance. According to him, the NPP constituency chairman who was among those arrested was pointed out and was kept in a separate cell.

Mr Owusu said those who could afford 300,000 cedis were immediately released by the police on the spot. He said the youth have vowed to fight for justice after they have been denied for more than 48 hours.