Terrorising students has become a routine of the police – FixtheCountry

Police have brutalised students six times in the past few years – FixtheCountry

FixtheCountry calls for an independent investigation into police using unnecessary force against students

Ban police from using live ammunition on unarmed protestors – FixtheCountry

The FixtheCountry movement has bemoaned reports of personnel of the Ghana Police Service using tear gas and warning shots to disperse a crowd of Senior High School students at Abrepo in the Ashanti Region.

According to the movement, the police using unnecessary force against students has now become habitual and it has to be stopped.

In a statement issued on June 6, 2022, FixtheCountry said that the students who were warned with shots were only exercising their right to assembly, only for the police to come and attack them.

The movement indicated that this will be the sixth time in the last few years that law enforcement agencies have used unnecessary force against unarmed students.

“... the students were exercising their right to assembly to draw attention to the frequent road accidents occurring in front of the school, following several incidents of cars knocking down students and teachers in front of the school, including a recent incident where a female teacher was knocked down by a car… note that the incidence of security forces entering second-cycle and tertiary educational institutions with live ammunition and resorting to unjustified use of violence against minors or young adults has now become a routine part of law enforcement culture in this country.

“On 22 October 2018, following a protest by the students, scores of heavily armed soldiers were deployed to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and the school was shut down indefinitely.

“On 27 October 2019, law students peacefully demonstrating against lack of access at the Ghana Law School were attacked by the Ghana Police Service at Sankara overpass in Accra, with tear gas and rubber bullets. 2 people were injured. No investigations into the incident were carried out,” portions of the statement read.

The movement, therefore, called for an investigation by an independent body with prosecutorial powers into all incidents where the police used unnecessary force on students.

It added that the police service should stop sending officers with live ammunition to protests by unarmed civilians and also develop operating procedures on public order policing to guide its personnel.

Read the full statement issued by FixtheCountry below:

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