The Police beat me and deleted contents on my phone - Journalist recounts assault

Ali-Baba Dankambary, a journalist with Kumasi-based Angel FM, has narrated the excruciating ordeal he suffered at the hands of the Ghana Police Service on Monday, June 13, whilst reporting on a crowd control incident that turned chaotic at the Islamic Senior High School in the Ashanti region, Purefmonline.com reports.

The news anchor of Angel FM speaking on Kumasi-based Pure FM's 'Pure Morning Drive' recounted that he was accosted by the Police personnel at the scene, beaten severely, and thrown into the bucket of a Police vehicle.

He told the host, Kwame Adjei Bohyen, that Police personnel questioned why he was filming the scene, and before he could provide an answer, they threw a punch at his rib, slapped his camera crew, and subsequently detained them at the Suame Police Station.

"I have never witnessed a scene like this. Police fired live bullets on the school premises like it was a war zone. Kwame, the scariest part was when they approached us and landed us with some slaps and beatings only for filming and reporting the scene.

"They subsequently detained us for over two hours without any charge or statements taken.

"It took the intervention of the Suame Divisional Police Commander, ACP George Ankomah, against the wishes of the District Commander before our seized phones were given to us around 5 pm yesterday.

"There is still no formal complaint made against us neither have we been told to report at the Police station.

"Interestingly, all my files relating to the incident and other images had been deleted from my phone before it was given to me. How they were able to crack my password to delete the files remains a mystery and quite scary to me. I am very shaken, and I feel severe pains in my lower rib area," he narrated.

Background

About 35 students of the Islamic Senior High school in the Ashanti region were rushed to the hospital yesterday after police allegedly opened tear gas on them while they were demonstrating over frequent knockdowns in front of the school.

It is reported this morning that 22 students have been discharged whilst the remaining 13 continue to receive medical care.

Angel FM journalists who went to the scene to report on the incident were allegedly beaten to a pulp by some Police personnel on the scene for recording the incident.

The Inspector-General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, arrived in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, to assess first-hand the chaos witnessed at the School on Monday, June 13, 2022

The IGP has assured students and Management of the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi that he will look into the conduct of Police officers deployed for crowd control during their protest.