Police injures seven persons at Sogakope
Seven people including three women were injured when the police fired shots to ward off an angry crowd seeking the release of a fetish priest being kept at the Sogakope police satiation.
The crowd accused Hunor Aflade, 35, of the disappearance of Mensah Hogbe, 25, a commercial motorbike operator last Friday, after he (Hogbe) conveyed a passenger to Toklokpo (close to Afade’s shrine), near Sogakope.
The injured women were on admission at the Comboni Mission Hospital at Sogakope while the men including a staff of the hospital, who was hit by a stray bullet as he walked past the police station, had been treated and discharged.
The Ghana News Agency learnt that the police had relocated Aflade and two of his associates to a secret place for their safety and to reduce tension in the area.
The police also moved ahead of the angry crowd to whisk Aflade’s family to safety before members of the group arrived to set ablaze his residence and BMW saloon car.
The crowd, police sources said, also vandalized another car and Aflade’s idols but a third vehicle was taking away by friends of Aflade before the crowd arrived.
A local source told GNA that the mob action was because Hogbe’s alleged disappearance was the fourth of its nature since the priest located his shrine in the area.
The source said the motorbike rider at about 2100 hours on Friday, November 11, this year, converged a lady to Toklokpo but he did not return.
This, alarmed colleagues of the rider and they informed the police about the situation the following day.
The source said Hogbe’s colleagues, who claimed they had found the motorbike in a bush near Toklokpo, accused the police of being too slow in their investigations.
Mr John Opoku, Sogakope District Police Commander confirmed the incident but said there was no evidence linking Hunor to the alleged disappearance of Hogbe.
He said actions of the crowd were based on a sorcerer’s claim that Aflade had murdered the rider.
The District Police Commander said the security agents were investigating the matter and called on the disenchanted people to cooperate with the police in their investigations.
Meanwhile the South-Tongu Security Committee had held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the matter.
Mr Kobla Woyome, Member of Parliament for the area, who was part of the meeting, appealed for calm and assured the people that the police would thoroughly investigate the matter.
Source: GNA