Ghanaian sports journalists assaulted by security officials

(From: William Ezah, GNA Special Correspondent in Luanda, Angola, courtes= y Ministry of Youth and Sports)

Luanda, Angola, Jan 23, GNA - Security personnel on Friday afternoon assaulted a Ghanaian Sports journalist Fiifi AHunu Tackie of Ra= dio Gold at Hotel President in Luanda, where the Black Stars are lodged. Ahunu Tackie who was at the hotel of the Black Stars to att= end a press conference organized by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) ahea= d of their crucial game against host nation Angola, was severely beaten by eight security personnel at the hotel.

Defenseless Ahunu Tackie was at the mercy of the security officials who were initially four but upon calls for reinforcement, four more men joined the brutality and subjected the Ghanaians to further beatings.

The security officials who would not take any form of explanation, later handcuffed the journalist, seized his accreditation, t= ook him to the police station and detained him for over 30 minutes. Ahunu Tackie in the process lost his wallet containing 1000USD= .. It all happened when the security officials prevented two memb= ers of the Millennium Supporters Union of Ghana (MISUGHA) and Andy Nortey of Ghanaian Times from entering the hotel to attend the press conference arguing that they had no right to enter the hotel.

Ahunu Tackie in an attempt to explain to the security officials=

that the two supporters and Nortey were Ghanaians and are supposed to be part of the programme, incurred their displeasure and subsequently launch= ed series of attacks on him in the presence of Opoku Afriyie team manager of=

the Black Stars, and the GNA reporter.

Ghanaian Times reporter, Nortey, had his fare share of the attac= k when he was carried by four security personnel who threw him out of the hotel with little difficulty and he had no option than to boycott the pre= ss conference and left for his hotel.

The ugly incident attracted huge presence at the reception of the hotel including customers, staff and officials of the hotel and journalis= ts from the international media. This put the press conference on hold for over an hour as official= s of the GFA led by Fred Pappoe and Randy Abbey moved to resolve the issue. Reacting to the incident, Abbey said the conduct of the policeme= n was unprofessional and brutish since they had no right to lay hands on th= e Ghanaian. He said the security officials erred by not contacting the team liaison officer for explanation in the course of the argument before acti= ng.

Abbey told the press conference that, the Ghanaians will lodge another complaint to CAF as they are not satisfied with security arrangements and safety of the team at the hotel.

He said the management of the Black Stars are not happy with security arrangements at the Hotel, adding that the security attach=E9 to= the team have not been up to the task.

He said the issues will dominate discussions at a meeting with officials of CAF on Saturday. The FA spokesman said they have also made an official complaint to the police for an investigation to be conducted into the matter. 22 Jan. 2010