The Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has dismissed claims that Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin assaulted a police officer during the “Save the Judiciary” demonstration, arguing that the narrative is a deliberate attempt by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to divert attention from the protest’s success.
Speaking on the matter on Channel One TV’s News Feed on Tuesday, May 6, Ahiagbah described the allegations as baseless and politically motivated.
“I think this is a non-issue that has been elevated obviously by the NDC to share space with the rather successful demonstration yesterday. And for me, we ought to just dismiss it without merit,” he stated.
He insisted that it was, in fact, the police officer who assaulted Afenyo-Markin, not the other way around.
“It was rather the police officer who assaulted the MP for Effutu, who is the Minority Leader,” he claimed, adding that the officer struck Afenyo-Markin hard enough to leave him visibly shaken.
Ahiagbah criticised the police for failing to clarify the situation, arguing that a simple inquiry with the officer involved could have resolved any doubts.
“The police could have simply just cleared any doubt by talking to the officer, who would attest to the fact that he perhaps knowingly or unknowingly hit him pretty hard,” he said.
He further suggested that the officer’s actions may have been intentional.
“I am inclined to even think that the guy did it on purpose. That is really where the point is. There is nothing that the Minority Leader did wrongly,” he asserted.
Ahiagbah urged the public to focus on the demonstration’s core message, which he said was to protest President Mahama’s alleged undermining of the judiciary.
“This narrative the NDC is foisting on us, as though the demonstration was all about the Minority Leader assaulting someone, is false and one that we should set aside and focus on the objective of yesterday’s demonstration,” he emphasised.
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