Mayhem In Kumasi

The injured persons after being treated SOME SUSPECTED National Democratic Congress (NDC) thugs on Saturday went on rampage in Kumasi, inflicting serious injuries on four people.   

Wielding iron rods, broken bottles and other deadly weapons, the blood-thirsty hoodlums descended mercilessly on their hapless victims at the Aboabo Station in Kumasi around 4:30 pm.   

For about 30 minutes that the attack lasted, members of the Co-operative Transport Union (CTU), running transport service from Kumasi to Tamale at the Aboabo Station had to run helter-skelter to save their lives.   

The unfortunate ones who could not run swiftly, sustained various degrees of injury, ranging from deep head cuts to acute knee injuries.   

 One Inusah Sonaa and Alhassan Amingo, who belong to the newly-formed 'Andani Gate Station', a transport union at the Aboabo Station in Kumasi, allegedly carried out the bloody attack.

The motive of the attack, sources told DAILY GUIDE , was to force members of the CTU who had operated at the station for nine years to abandon the station and allow them to take over because their party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), was now in political power.   

Osumanu Innusah, 33, Awulai Hussein, 30, Mohammed Alhassan, 35 and Dauda were mentioned as those who sustained injuries during the bloody attack.  

The injured persons were immediately rushed to the Manhyia Poly Clinic for medical attention and discharged later in the day, whilst a complaint was lodged to the Zongo Police in Kumasi.   

Briefing DAILY GUIDE about the genesis of the issue, the CTU Chairman, Abdellah Kaamah said his outfit had for the past nine years been running transport service from Kumasi to Tamale at the Aboabo Station in Kumasi peacefully.   

He noted that on February 25, Sonaa and his cohorts stormed the station, warning that they had formed a new transport union christened Andani Gate Station (AGS) to take over the running of the station because their government, NDC, was now in power.   

True to their words, he noted, Sonaa immediately brought two buses to the station to load to Tamale, amid tribal sentiments that passengers who belong to the Andani gate should join his buses because it was the best option for them.   

To avert a possible mayhem and clashes between members of the AGS and CTU, “I immediately lodged a complaint with the police who swiftly dispatched personnel from the Buffalo Unit to arrest 12 people from Sonaa's group.   

Kaamah alleged that locally manufactured guns and other weapons were found on the arrested people when the police conducted a search on them, but they were later released under bizarre circumstances.   

Considering the tension that was pertaining at the station at that time, the CTU Chairman hinted that the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) in conjunction with the GPRTU hierarchy in the region invited the two feuding parties to a meeting for an amicable settlement.   

At the meeting, it was agreed that both CTU and AGS should operate at the station on a daily basis; one union should operate one day whilst the other union should operate the next day in that order.   

Kaamah said Sonaa breached the resolution by storming the station on the day that the CTU was mandated to operate, with a stern warning to the members to abandon the station because he would attack them bloodily if they chose to be adamant.   

Highlighting the Saturday attack, Kaamah said he and his members were in their offices working when without provocation, Sonaa and his cohorts descended on them with iron rods, broken bottles and other deadly weapons, injuring four of his members in the process.   

He said he had duly lodged a complaint with the Zongo Police but no arrests had been made at the time of chatting with DAILY GUIDE on Saturday evening.   

Depressed-looking Kaamah appealed to President Mills to personally intervene to bring lasting peace to the station and Kumasi in general.   

Kaamah further appealed to the Asantehene, who is the owner of all lands in the Ashanti region, to quickly step in to avert any mayhem.   

The CTU Chairman opined that lasting peace could be brought to the hitherto peaceful station when Sonaa and his members in the AGS are relocated.   

Meanwhile, all attempts by DAILY GUIDE to reach Mr. Ohene Agyekum, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NDC for his side of the issue proved futile as his cellular phone was reportedly switched off.

From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi