Islamic SHS shootings: Police chased students with tear gas into dormitories

It is emerging that the Police deployed to calm a street protest at the Islamic SHS at Abrepo Junction in Kumasi used brute force on the students.

Nana Appiah, a reporter who spoke on Power News Monday evening, said some of the students became unconscious on the school compound and not on the streets.

"Some of the students said even when they ran to campus for cover, some of the armed police officers chased them into the dormitories while firing tear gas. Those who were trapped in the dormitories were lashed," he said.

This follows the disturbances recorded at the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi when students protested against pedestrian knockdowns involving students and teachers of the school.

Over 25 students were rushed to the hospital following an alleged clash with the Police.

Viral video footages show Police personnel opening up tear gas on students to disperse the crowd.

But Power FM's Nana Appiah, who spoke to some of the students after visiting them in the Suntreso Hospital, reported that "the students told me the Police chased them into the girl's dormitory and lashed them."

Conduct of Police

The Ghana Police Service, in a statement later on Monday, admitted that its men deployed to the Senior High School could have adopted a better approach to tackling the chaos on Monday morning.

In a Police statement condemning the violence on the protesting students, the Director of Public Affairs, Chief Superintendent Grace Ansah-Akrofi, established that even though nobody was hit by a live bullet, "the Police handling of the incident was poor and fell short of our standard operating procedure on crowd control."

The Ghana Police Service subsequently removed from office the Deputy Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kwasi Akomeah-Apraku, who was acting as the Regional Police Commander at the time of the chaos.

Some top Police officers in the jurisdiction have also been interdicted, including the Regional Operations Officer of the Ghana Police, ACP/Mr. George Ankomah, and ACP/Mr. Alex Cudjoe Acquah, the Suame Divisional Police Commander.

Parliament

On the back of the disturbances, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has refused to order a parliamentary probe into the disturbances.

This was after an urgent statement was made by the Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed-Muntaka Mubarak, for the law-making Chamber to investigate the June 13 incident.

Speaker Bagbin said the House should allow the Ghana Police Service to conclude its investigation.

The Speaker has also directed the Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament to embark on a fact-finding mission on the disturbances.

The Committee has been handed a week ultimatum to report their findings to Parliament to enable the House to take the necessary action.