The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) has declared its intention to petition the Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, to increase security at the various courts.
JUSAG says recent attacks on judicial staff are unacceptable.
The Tamale District Court was attacked on Monday, August 28, 2023, when some residents stormed the court premises in large numbers and pelted the court with stones, destroying fixtures and injuring a police officer.
This led to an exchange of gunfire between the police and the irate youth.
Several gunshots were fired at the District Court in Tamale on Monday morning, resulting in damage to property and injuries to some persons at the court’s premises.
Information gathered by Ahotor news showed that a riffle, belonging to a Police Officer on duty at the court, was snatched away from him by the crowd that besieged the court over a case involving some alleged illicit drug peddlers.
When the team from Ahotor News visited the area on Monday, it was observed that the court’s premises were cordoned off while the street in front of the court was also blocked to vehicular and human movement, with Police personnel and vehicles stationed along the street in the area.
It was not clear what led to the gunshots, but some sources said a case involving some alleged illicit drug peddlers was called at the court and some local people who believed that the Police would present a poor case against the suspects, besieged the court and started firing a gun.
The local people argued that the increasing crime rate amongst some youth in the Tamale Metropolis was because of the abuse of these illicit drugs.
The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) has condemned the unlawful invasion of the premises of the Tamale District Court by some residents in the area.
Speaking to Ahotor News after some irate youth attacked the Tamale Circuit Court, JUSAG President Samuel Afotey Otu said the police must protect the courts.
Story by: Osei Akoto (Teacher Kojo) / Ahotoronline.com
