Calm Returns To Asawase After Youth, Police Clash

Police in the Ashanti Region has been deployed to intensify patrols in some hotspots in the regional capital, Kumasi following the violent protests as a result of the killing of some seven young men.

According to the Director General of Public Affairs of the Police ACP David Eklu, there is relative calm in the area but the police are working to prevent further clashes.

Some youth in the Asawase constituency earlier this week staged violent protests in reaction to the killing of seven young men in the area.

They said the young men were not armed robbers as the police claimed in its report.

The Inspector General of Police , David Asante Appeatu and other-ranking officials from various security agencies also met with community leaders to fashion out a permanent way to solve the issue.

ACP David Eklu told Citi News that;
“Security-wise, the situation is calm. The police have deployed personnel to certain hotspots in Kumasi. It is relatively calm and the community leaders are also talking through their people to stay calm…. The meeting that we came to with the IGP and the Ministers has been quite successful. Between last night and now, there hasn't been any incident. The signs are quite encouraging that certainly calm will be restored as we wait for further directive from the government.”

The Police announced on Tuesday that seven out of the eight suspected robbers, whose attack reportedly led to the death of a Police Officer with the SWAT unit of the Ashanti Regional Police Command, had been gunned down after a gun battle.

But families of some of the deceased persons have disputed the claims of the police.

The families have suggested that the police wrongfully killed their “innocent” relatives who they say are not robbers as claimed by the police.

Many others have since said the Police account of how the seven persons were killed was untrue.

Some angry youth took to the streets in the Ashanti Regional capital on Thursday to protest over the killing.

Among other things, they burnt lorry tyres and besieged the Asawase police station demanding justice.

The situation forced a joint police and military presence at the police station to avert any violent attacks.