The police man who led the brutal assault of three journalists of the Ghanaian Times newspaper has been identified as Sergeant Ebenezer Asiedu.
Sergeant Aisedu and group of other police officers on Thursday physically assaulted the journalists who were on their way for an assignment. The assaulted journalists were later identified as Malik Sullemana, a court reporter, Raissa Sambou, a general reporter and Salifu Abdul Rahman, an assistant editor.
Sergeant Ebenezer Asiedu of the Accra Regional SWAT Unit reportedly used his unregistered motorcycle to hit the car transporting the Ghanaian Times journalists.
The police man is reported to have ignored the accident and went further to skip traffic. The journalists confronted him and upon trying to record the ensuing exchanges, the police man pounced on them and physically assaulted them.
Sullemana and Abdul Rahman received severe bruises, but Mrs Sambou, a lactating mother, was rushed to the emergency unit of the Ridge Hospital. Mrs. Sambou, who gave birth last December 2018 through caesarean section, was reportedly hit on the stomach by Sergeant Aisedu, making her unconscious.
He said they were subsequently arrested after being assaulted, explaining:
Meanwhile, narrating his own account in a Facebook post, Sullemana, said he was “pushed, kicked, slapped, punched, insulted and head-butted.”
“At the office, they requested to take my statement but I insisted to write my statement only in the presence of my lawyer. Flowing from this, they sent me back into the cell and urged the inmates to beat me up.”
Sullemana added: “One S. Nukunu who was at the counter, hit me on the back several times. A few moments later, ACP David Eklu, Director of Public Affairs, Ghana Police Service, DSP Effia Tenge, Greater Accra Police Public Relations Officer arrived in the company of junior policemen. By this time, the Editor of Ghanaian Times, David Agbenu and News Editor, Matthew Ayinne Ayoo were waiting at the Crime Office.”
It was after then, he said, that he has released and given a police form to seek treatment at a hospital. The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has since condemned the actions of the police, while calling for the perpetrators to be brought to book.
