Angry police officers to demonstrate against government

An angry officer of the Ghana Police Service has threatened to lead junior ranks in the service to stage a massive demonstration against their superiors and the government.

The demonstration, the angry police officer who pleaded anonymity said on Adom FM’s Morning Show, ‘Dwaso Nsem’ Monday, is to protest the bad conditions of service of the junior ranks.

“The junior rank in the police service will demonstrate against the government if
we fail to hear any positive news from the government…enough is enough,” the police officer threatened.

The outburst of the police officer was in reaction to the killing of a chief inspector by armed robbers at the Atomic Hill Police Post at Kwabenya in the Greater Accra Region.

A Police officer was shot when a gang stormed the Kwabenya District Police headquarters to free suspected armed robbers who were in custody.

The shot police officer has been identified as Emmanuel Ashilevi believed to be in his 40s.

Seven prisoners who were on remand, identified as Dickson Ofori, Chubuzor Chubuzor, Edem Rockson, Emmanuel Kotey, Prince Osei, Kofi Darko and Atta Kwadwo also escaped from lawful custody.

And the death of the Police Officer, the Junior Officer said, could have been averted if the police service is well resourced to deal with crime in the country.

“There are lots of logistics that we need, but we are not given; risk allowance has been taken from our wages and we even lack logistics…the senior ranks do not think of our welfare, they only think of intimidation…when we are promoted, it takes a lot of time for that to reflect but when we are suspended, it takes immediate effect,” he bemoaned.

The lack of protection for the junior ranks in the Police Service, the officer said, is the cause of the numerous deaths of officers in uniforms in recent times.

“We don’t have enough protection, soldiers are more protected than us. Every policeman is becoming a politician because the ranks are linked to various political parties…,” he said.

The angry police officer alleged that criminals are also being recruited into the service in recent times by these politicians; an action which he believes is diluting the professionalism of the service.

He also called for the interdiction of the regional and district commanders, arguing that their failure to act led to the death of Chief Inspector Emmanuel Ashilevi.

“The regional and district commanders should be on interdiction…it is the failure on their part to act that has led to the death of the police officer…why should you detain 7 notorious criminals in one cell? They should have been separated into several cells,” he fumed.