Three policemen have been interdicted for allegedly brutalising a commercial driver at Weija, in Accra, last Thursday.
The action followed a directive by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr James Oppong Boanuh, that the three, all Lance Corporals of the National Visibility Patrols, Samuel Owusu, Kwasi Osei and Kwame Wonder Amezro, should be interdicted.
They were caught on a video that has gone viral, brutalising a commercial driver, Kwasi Nana Odei.
The Director-General of the Police Public Affairs, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) David Senanu Eklu, in an interview with the Ghanaian Times, in Accra yesterday, said that the personnel were currently on interdiction whilst investigations into the matter continued.
He said they would be on Administrative Service Enquiry after the determination of the case.
ACP Eklu said the Ghana Police Service took strong exception to the use of such force by the police against members of the public.
He explained that the use of brute force was not part of the Police Service instruction and best practices, no matter the provocation.
ACP Eklu stressed that force should be lawful, proportionate and legal.
He said investigations into cases involving police brutalities, including the Midland Savings and Loans assault on a woman and that of an assault on a suspect at Koforidua in the Eastern Region, have been completed and forwarded to the Central Disciplinary Board of the Police for the necessary action.
ACP Eklu said the police administration would not condone such acts, and urged personnel to be professional in the discharge of their activities.
He urged the public to report such negative conduct of personnel to the police for immediate action.
The three interdicted police personnel on October,31, 2019, stopped, victim, Nana Odei, for alleged road traffic offence, and demanded GH¢50 from him at the McCarthy Hill area.
Odei was reported to have said he could not pay GH¢50, and offered GH¢20, which the policemen refused.
According to eyewitnesses, Odei drove his vehicle away, but was pursued by the policemen with their vehicle, who later caught up with him at Weija in Accra.
The indicted officers were reported to have assaulted Odei till he fell unconscious and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.
BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI