NPP Boss At CID

Nana Ohene Ntow

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) General Secretary, , yesterday appeared before a team of investigators at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters in Accra, following an invitation from the police.

He was invited over an allegation he supposedly made regarding police response to the Agbogbloshie (Kokomba Market) mayhem which resulted in the gruesome murder of three persons and serious injury to several others.

Nana Ntow, who wrote a statement on what he knew before and after the incident, was however asked to reappear at the CID Headquarters this morning, but the NPP scribe said even though he was ready to cooperate with the police in the matter, his tight schedule would not permit him to meet with them today.

Speaking to the media yesterday, the general-secretary of the largest opposition party in the country said the police told him someone had mentioned his name in connection with the bloody clash.

According to him, he told the police what he knew- that some youth had hinted him of their intension to return to the market, and for which he advised them to first inform the police.

“I don't know what their suspicions are. I only think they are doing their work,” he said.

For his part, Mr. Charles Owusu, solicitor to Nana Ntow, said his client cooperated with the police, who he said were out to clarify certain information they had received.

It is recalled that three persons were reportedly killed and others injured following an attack they suffered last Tuesday August 25th, 2009 at the hands of a group calling itself the 'Taliban Boys', at the Konkonba Market in Accra.

Soon after the mayhem, expressed dismay at the behavior of the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, saying they could have averted the bloodshed if they had acted professionally, as many believed it had political undertones.

An eyewitness, in her narration about what she thought sparked the trouble between the pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC) Taliban Boys and New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters, said she overheard some youth remarking that “they are back. This time we would not spare them.”

Another person, who simply gave his name as Prince, told the media that even though the NDC boys had persistently persecuted them in the market, the police seemed to have turned a deaf ear to their complaints.

 “Some of us went to the Jamestown Police Station and met the District Commander, DSP Alex, and the Crime Officer Eklu and told them about how our people wanted to return to the place.

We were led to the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Rose Bio-Atinga, who asked whether we could not find alternative accommodation elsewhere and to engage in some other occupation,” he said.

By Bennett Akuaku