Zongo Youth On Rampage At Asawase

A number of policemen in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, sustained injuries after they were violently attacked with stones by irate Zongo youth on Thursday.

The policemen, who were armed, had rushed to the Central Mosque area, where the aggrieved Zongo youth were rioting following the police's fatal shooting of seven alleged 'armed robbers.'

Before the policemen could get out of their vehicles to stop the burning of car tyres on the streets, the Zongo youth had surprised them with blistering array of stones of various sizes.

The Zongo residents had consistently accused the police of acting unprofessionally in shooting seven suspected armed robbers (all males) to death at Manso Nkwanta on Tuesday and so the youth showed their displeasure at the killings.

Run For Cover
Reports indicated that the policemen, at this time, exercised maximum restraint and professionalism even in the face of the provocation, as they refused to shoot at the angry crowd who continually pelted them with the stones.

Some of the policemen, according to eye witnesses, suffered injuries and their colleagues quickly rushed them to the Manhyia Government Hospital for treatment.

Youth Attack Hospital
The charged youth, who were certainly thirsty for blood, caused a stir as they also rushed to the Manhyia Government Hospital after they had learnt that some injured policemen had been conveyed to the facility.

The security men at the hospital quickly locked the hospital's gates to prevent the blood-thirsty goons from entering the facility.

They, however, resorted to the throwing of stones into the medical facility, which caused massive destruction to the hospital's property.

Windscreens of vehicles of some medical doctors at the Manhyia Government Hospital were smashed with stones, and other facilities at the medical institution were also not spared by the youth.

Fake Police Station Fire
There were even reports that a police station at Asawase, a suburb in the Asokore Mampong Municipality, had been set on fire, but the paper's checks later revealed that the report was false.

However, it was established that some of the angry youth openly burnt car tyres right in front of the Charge Office at the Asawase Police Station.

The police beefed up security in police stations in the city.

Information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that the leadership of the Zongo communities in Kumasi, notably the Imams and Zongo chiefs, were not pleased with the violent action of the youth.

The Zongo Chiefs and Muslim clerics have therefore decided to go to the Central Mosque in large numbers today (Friday) to admonish the Zongo youth to allow them to use dialogue to deal with the killing of the seven people.

It would be recalled that seven people, who are all from the Zongo communities, were shot dead after they had allegedly engaged armed policemen in a fierce gun battle at Manso Nkwanta on Tuesday.

The police insisted that the seven were armed robbers, who were trying to rob some mining site, but the Zongo youth rebutted the police's claim, stressing that the seven people were innocent so the police had spilled innocent blood.

From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi