May 9 disaster: Security apparatus lacked basic crowd control management - Oduro Takyi

The Regional Coordinator CAYE – West Africa, Mr. Bernard Oduro Takyi, has disclosed that security apparatus who were on duty at the Accra Sports Stadium on the 9th of May, 2001 were deficient in knowledge, so far as basic crowd control management is concerned.

According to him, if the security apparatus who caused the fatal incident had knowledge of Basic Crowd Control Management, Ghana would not have witnessed the loss of more than 126 people in a single football game.

He was of the view that the unforgettable incident must be a wake up call to the powers that be.

“The Ghanaian Security apparatus should be taken through the proper Crowd and Riot Control Management to avoid some of these needless deaths and disasters at football games, community clashes among others”, the Regional Coordinator CAYE – West Africa reiterated.

The Accra Sports Stadium disaster, which has been tagged May 9 disaster, occurred at the Ohene Djan Stadium, Accra, Ghana on May 9, 2001.

The fatal incident took the lives of 126 people, making it the worst stadium disaster in the history of Ghana football.