Police reacts to 'Torture Chamber' story

The Deputy Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Eastern Regional Police Command, Sergeant Francis Gomado, has described the actions of two police officers who subjected a suspect to severe beatings at a police station, as barbaric and inhuman.

According to him: “The actions of my colleagues are barbaric, inhuman, unprofessional and outmoded way of getting information from suspects, which needs to be condemned with all honesty.”

The Deputy Regional PRO said this when this reporter contacted him to respond to a story carried by the paper yesterday, under the headline “Torture Chamber At K’dua Police Station.”

Sergeant Gomado told The Chronicle that the service would not shield any officer or group of officers who discharge their duties against modern policing and the rule of law, adding, “We are not going to spare them because they are our colleagues.”

“I am not happy about what has happened, and I can assure you that the police administration would apply all the disciplinary actions within its ambit in order to serve as a deterrent to other officers,” he stressed.

He has, therefore, called on the victim to officially report the matter at the Regional Headquarters to prepare the ground for identification of the officers and the necessary disciplinary procedures taken against them.

Meanwhile, the father of 28-year-old Aglebe Dodzi, the victim, Mr. Aglebe Daniel, a driver, has told the paper that he wants the law to be applied to its logical conclusion in this matter.

This, he said, would serve as a wakeup call to other officers who have taken the law into their hands.

According to Mr. Aglebe Daniel, the two officers involved in the crime – Sergeant Amoako and Lance Corporal Marfo – have gone to see a Chief, Nana Obudgya Asante II, to plead on their behalf.

He further told The Chronicle that though Nana Obudgya Asante II, a sub-Chief in the New Juaben Traditional Area, is a childhood friend, he would not listen to his pleadings and that the law must take its own course.

The two officers have indicated their readiness to compensate and pay the hospital bill of the victim, who was taken to the Koforidua Regional Hospital for treatment.

Mr. Aglebe continued that no amount of money would have saved his son if he had died, hence the need to apply the law.

The victim’s father also alleged that despite all what they did to his son, the two officers still took GH¢500 before granting him bail. This allegation could, however, not be confirmed by The Chronicle from the policemen.