… And IGP says, “We are going to look into it and take all actions that need to be taken to ensure that at the end of the day, the right thing is done; professionalism is deepened in a manner that will not create a situation that will put the life of anybody at risk, because as police , we are here to protect lives and properties and if we cannot do that , then we must have failed in our duties; in our mandate.”
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akufo-Dampare says the duty of the police is to protect lives and properties and should they fail to do that, they might have disappointed the people in the performance of their mandate.
Dr Dampare, who was speaking to students of the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi yesterday, after they clashed with the police resulting in injuries suffered by some of them, however, noted that in discharging their duties, they have to be very professional and avoid putting the lives of people in danger.
“We are going to look into it and take all actions that need to be taken to ensure that at the end of the day, the right thing is done; professionalism is deepened in a manner that will not create a situation that will put the life of anybody at risk, because as police, we are here to protect lives and properties and if we cannot do that, then we must have failed in our duties; in our mandate and it is something we do not want to do, so be rest assured that we are with you, you are children and we will see to it that you are comforted,” he said.
Dr Dampare promised a full scale investigation into some of the actions taken by personnel dispatched to the campus to quell the violent demonstration that had been embarked upon earlier by the students.
The IGP further told the students that when he heard the development, he hurriedly rushed down to Kumasi and went round to find out the issue the students were demonstrating about. He was told that it has to do with lack of speed ramps in front of the school
According to him, he made a couple of calls to the Department of Urban Roads and leadership agreed to swiftly come around and ensure that the right thing is done for the students to live their lives to their full potential.
“We are going to monitor to see to it full accomplishment so that each life would be protected”, he said.
The Police chief, however, advised the students to always use the laid down structures in the school to put their grievances across.
“Don’t bypass them to take the laws into your hands to create a situation, so that at the end of the day, we will be very circumspect in the things that happened so that we do not end up losing lives, we do not end up creating confusion that could take lives away from our journey to become great – because we are looking to great opportunity and we are looking forward to seeing each one of you growing up to become the doctors that you want to be; the nurses that you want to be, the teacher that you want to be, the judge that you want to be, the accountant that you want to be”, he told the students.
The Islamic SHS student went on demonstration last week Friday, protesting against lack of speed ramps in front of the school to control the speed of drivers. In so doing, they blocked the road and prevented free movement of traffic.
Police were called in, who reportedly used brute force including firing of tear gas and discharge of live bullets. This resulted in most of the students sustaining various degrees of injury.
According to the Ghana Ambulance Service, twenty-six (26) students were injured and admitted to health facilities in the metropolis.
Information available to this paper suggests that the situation was so dire that some individuals volunteered and took some of the students who got suffocated by the teargas to health facilities such as; County, Suntreso Government Hospital, Kwadaso SDA hospital and Manhyia Government Hospital, with some being referred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
