The Inspector General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, has defended the decision to shut down the Kukurantumi Police Station following an attack by angry youth.
The attack was in response to the alleged death of a suspect in police custody.
The IGP’s comments come after the Member of Parliament for Atiwa East and Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Abena Osei Asare, raised concerns over the closure during a Public Accounts Committee hearing.
“We all have to condemn the acts of irate youths who are always attacking police stations. There’s a community in this country where we have one police station, which is a divisional headquarters, being built by the government, and then we have another that is a district headquarters being built by the locals themselves.
“When they were going to attack, they went to the building that was built by the government, and they burned the building down.
He added, “They came to their local building, and somebody said, No, no, this one was built by the MP, so let us not touch it. So they didn’t touch it. And so today, when you are in your area and you are asking us, we should come and open a police station; we will ask you to build a police station yourself.
“All those areas where there are these disturbances, they never attacked the stations that were built by the community themselves. And it is not good for this country. And so if you ask about closing down, yes, we’ll close down because you have destroyed the station.”
The Chairperson of PAC rejected the IGP’s explanation, stating, “Mr. IGP, that cannot be the response, because there are several places in this country where mobs have attacked police stations, but we never hear that the police stations have been closed down.
“So, Honourable Minister of Interior, Muntaka Mohammed, for me, I don’t think that should be the response. It’s like the fact that your child pees on your lap doesn’t mean you should cut your lap off.
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