The Greater Accra Regional Minister has given a gory account of the violence in Odododiodio which has left scores of supporters injured and hospitalised.
Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo who is head of the Greater Accra Region Security Command told Joy News two supporters of the NDC were shot at close range from the back and are receiving treatment in the hospital.
According to him, bullets had to be extracted from the bodies of the victims in a very painful operation but was quick to add that the supporters were responding to treatment.
“They are responding to treatment because of the extent of damage. They were shot at a very close range. The bullet penetrated through their bodies. Those who were shot from the back, the bullets were taken from their stomach.
“They are in difficult serious pain. I had to encourage them because i think they are not going to die,” he narrated.
Odododiodio has over the past years been a hotbed of violence during political seasons. It has been named by the Electoral Commission and Ghana Police Service as one of the flashpoints to watch in the upcoming elections.
This week supporters of the two major parties clashed again shortly after a mammoth rally had been organised by the NPP Tuesday.
Both parties have given conflicting accounts of what triggered the chaos but three people believed to be supporters of the NPP were arrested and remanded by the James Town Police which triggered another bout of chaos.
Supporters of the NPP besieged the Police Station and demanded the release of the three suspects.
The NPP MP aspirant Nii Lantey Bannerman also alleged that he was assaulted by the incumbent MP and Sports Minister, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, an allegation Myjoyonline.com cannot independently verify.
Attempts to get the Minister’s side of the story proved futile but the police say investigations are ongoing to ascertain the truth.
The Regional Minister Nii Afotey Agbo told Joy News his outfit will not countenance any form of lawlessness in the capital.
He said even though the area is acclaimed as the home for boxers, the youth cannot use the election season to be pummeling each other and even resorting to the use of guns.
He said the law will deal ruthlessly with persons found to be engaging in acts of violence in the area.
But the NPP insists the account as given by the Minister is not entirely accurate and accused the police of bias.
According to the former Mayor of Accra, Stanley Adjiri Blankson the NPP has reported over 30 cases of attacks on its supporters to the police and not one of them has been worked on.
He said it was the NPP supporters who were attacked completely unprovoked after the party pulled off the biggest ever rally in the history of the constituency on Tuesday.
Adjiri Blankson said supporters were in celebration mood when they were attacked by NDC supporters organised by leaders of the party in the region.
He alleged the shots were fired into the crowd by NDC supporters and not by the NPP insisting that the MP Nii Lante Vanderpuye was seen holding a gun on the day of the violence. “Is he in the military?” he asked
He called for fairness from the police as a way of ensuring peace and security in the constituency.
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