Umaru Sanda requests IGP to investigate police harassment, sends a petition letter
Umaru Sanda Amadu
Umaru Sanda Amadu, a Citi FM/Citi TV journalist, has asked Police Inspector General James Oppong-Boanuh to thoroughly investigate the recent incident that saw him being threatened and insulted by some officers.
Umaru Sanda said the "recalcitrant" officers must be brought to the book in the petition filed by his lawyers, adding that their unprofessional behavior has brought the reputation of the police institution into disrepute.
“The unprofessional conduct of these men has brought the name of the service into disrepute.
It also has the potential of causing unnecessary confrontation and apprehension among the citizenry should they be stopped randomly and subjected to such humiliation and unprofessional searches,” excerpts of the petition read.
Citinewsroom reported that "Some officers in a SWAT branded vehicle led by one Richard Deh on January 2, 2021, singled out Umaru Sanda Amadu’s car around close to Odawna-Circle and subjected him to a thorough search.
The visibly angry group of policemen insisted that they were searching for weapons and drugs in his car.
The journalist said that one officer who was upset that he was filming the process rushed to him and knocked his phone to the ground.
The officer seized Amadu’s phone, but his colleagues convinced him to return it.
He rushed at Mr. Amadu again and knocked the phone away a second time.
After checking his license and finding no issues with it, they thoroughly searched his car amidst verbal attacks and at the point asked him to take off his shoes because he may have concealed a weapon there.
Mr. Amadu said they even declined when he requested to sit in the car while he took off his shoes so that he wouldn’t have to stand barefoot on the ground.
The search, according to Umaru Sanda Amadu was done in a humiliating and disrespectful manner not expected of a professional police officer.
The journalist had earlier filed a criminal complaint at the Adabraka Police station over the case of assault.
He has also petitioned the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the National Media Commission (NMC) over the issue."
Read the petition below:
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