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22.11.2014 Editorial

Another Needless Fatality

By Daily Guide
Another Needless Fatality
22.11.2014 LISTEN

DCOP Christian Yohunu
Last Wednesday's fatal inter-ethnic clash at sodom and Gomorrah was avertable.

Records of an earlier deadly clash in the same area are available for adequate lessons to be drawn from but which were apparently ignored.

We wish to take issues with the James Town Police Commander for not acting quickly enough to obviate the situation which erupted and warranting this commentary.

Even if he was not at post when a similar incident occurred and claimed a number of lives a few years ago, as soon as the first clash was recorded he should have foreseen a backlash coming and therefore made arrangements to forestall it.

Eventually, the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Christian Yohunu, had to proceed to the location to ensure that the right things were done towards an eventual restoration of law and order.

Intelligence gathering, especially when a police officer finds himself commanding a volatile area such as the area under review, should not only be undertaken; it must be prioritised to avert the kind of incident which took place at Sodom and Gomorrah.

In broad daylight a few years ago, rival political groupings in the area engaged in a bloody fight which claimed some lives and caused bodily harm to others.

The Nanumba and Dagomba clash was in two phases. At the end of the first one, the groups promised a return attack, which really took place. This is where we think that the police should have organised patrols because there was no doubt that there was going to be a reprisal response.

For the information of the Commander, it is very likely that one of the groups is seething with anger and planning to go on the offensive once the law enforcement officers leave the scene.

Little wonder some traders are relocating to other places because they have a feeling that a breach of law and order would be repeated once the law enforcement patrols, which cannot be indefinite, come to an end.

To date, culprits of the murder of two or more persons have not been arrested, let alone brought before the courts. This was clear evidence about how hoodlums with links to state players can easily escape the long arm of the law.

This is a part of Accra where lawlessness is a feature and where cheap ruling party politicians have courted friends. These opportunistic politicians are ready to have such friends let off the hook when they breach the law and are nabbed by law enforcement officers.

Is it not time for government to muster the necessary courage and relocate the squatters in this part of the city to allow for the stalled ecological project to go on and to stop the breeding of criminals in Sodom and Gomorrah?

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