The Ghana Police Service has assured the general public that it will continue to act impartially to enforce all existing laws without fear and discrimination while maintaining and upholding the rights of all persons.

This follows the wide circulation of a video on social media in which some police officers were captured using physical force to arrest a suspect on Monday, 22 November 2021.

Responding to public backlash on the video, the police, in a statement issued and signed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Juliana Obeng on Monday, 29 November 2021, said three suspects; Asafoatse Arye, a 32 years old businessman and Nii Armah Wulu I, 48 years old, who is also a businessman and the Dzaasetse of Mamprobi, were arrested in the neighbourhood in Accra on Monday, 22 November 2021 after “several failed invitations” from the service.

The suspects were arrested for “conspiracy to commit crime: to wit, unlawfully exercising supervision or control of land development and preventing a developer from developing the land; unlawfully exercising supervision or control of land development and preventing a developer from developing the land, assault, causing unlawful damage, resisting arrest and rescue and assault on a public office.”

The police noted that the “offences” committed by the suspects relate to “several criminal engagements, including an attack launched on a victim” on Friday, 5 November 2021 at Mamprobi.

The police said “Nii Armah Wulu together with Asafoatse Aryee Obo, went to the victim, a 60-year-old woman, who was constructing a building at her late father’s residence and instructed her to stop work immediately”.

“The suspects demanded an amount of GHS10,000 as digging fee from her although the victim had obtained the appropriate permit for the construction|”, the police said.

“The suspects also ordered workers and suppliers of building materials at the construction site to run for their lives”, he noted.

He said: “During the confrontations, the victim decided to film the incident”, a situation which “infuriated the suspects”.

“Suspect Asafoatse Aryee Obo pounced on the victim, pushed her to the ground, forcibly seized her Samsung mobile phone valued at GHS1,250 and smashed the phone on the floor without any provocation, thereby causing damage to the phone”.

“The suspects also demolished sections of the building under construction. This led to the arrest of the suspects.”

Also, suspect Asafoatse Obo, “in the process of arrest, resisted and physically assaulted the arresting officers” by kicking the groins of one of the arresting officers with his leg and inflicting severe injury.

The police continued that given the circumstance, it had to “resort to the application of the force needed at the time because all other means to get the suspect to remain calm and comply with the arrest procedure had failed.”

It added: “The action of the police was necessitated to prevent the suspect from causing further harm to other officers and persons who had gathered at the scene of the arrest”.

“However, suspect Nii Armah Wulu I, who did not resist arrest, was treated courteously and escorted to the police station for interrogation.”

It reiterated: “The Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) provides for the reasonable use of force by the Police.”

The suspects have been arraigned and are to reappear before the court on Thursday, 16 December 2021.