Police Clash With C-Poly Students
Students of the Cape Coast Polytechnic (C-Poly) who were on a float on Saturday clashed with a team of policemen from the Central Regional Police Command who blocked them and started firing tear gas at them.
The students, who were celebrating their annual Ghana National Union of Polytechnic Students (GNUPS) week, were embarking on a float to climax the celebrations when the police rudely interrupted them.
Briefing DAILY GUIDE , one of the students who spoke to the paper on condition of anonymity stated that as part of their annual GNUPS week celebrations, which started on Tuesday, they planned a float for Saturday and went for a police permit but were told by the police that President Mills would be in town so they had to postpone the float.
According to him, they later learnt that the President had travelled outside Ghana and would not be able to make it to the region so they informed the police and decided to have the float.
He claimed that they were therefore surprised that in the middle of their float, upon reaching Adisadel, a suburb of Cape Coast, the police blocked and started firing tear gas to disperse them.
He narrated that in the ensuing scuffle, 20 students were arrested while about six ladies who were on the track injured.
He said many of the students, sensing danger, managed to escape to prevent being arrested.
The student told this reporter that some of them later stormed the Central Regional Police Headquarter at Pedu in Cape Coast to demand from the police the reason for their action.
He claimed they were told that the attack on them was an order from above, adding that even though the police refused to mention whose order it was, they drew the conclusion that it was a government appointee in the region who gave the order.
He indicated that their president was an New Patriotic Party (NPP) leader on campus who once had an issue with some students, adding his political affiliation could have triggered that dangerous order from above.
According to him, upon persistence, their 20 colleagues who were arrested were released to them and those who got injured were treated and discharged at the Central Regional Hospital.
Meanwhile, a source close to the police hinted DAILY GUIDE that the students went for permit at the last minute on Friday and were asked to suspend the float because the president was going to be in town.