Ejura Riot Probe: Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander Speaks

The Ashanti Regional Police Command has admitted that it was a mistaken assumption they had in relation to military deployment to Ejura since many a time the military was used to scare crowd away.

"We know crowds always disperse when they see military so we assumed that would have happened, but it failed us," he said.

The Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP David Agyemang Adjem was answering some questions from the Committee set up to investigate the riot in Ejura which led to the loss of four (4) lives.

The police were said to have been overwhelmed by the crowd hence the deployment of the military at the behest of the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah.

The Chairman of the Committee, His Lordship Justice George Kingsley Koomson was particular about how the Police failed to devise strategies ahead of their deployment to the riot scene when they had received intelligence.

DCOP Agyemang Adjem noted that the police in some way lack equipment, adding that in some developed countries as well, the same prevail when things get tough during riots or demonstrations.

However,  the police would have used tear gas in the process if it was available at that moment.

Reasons for the riot have not yet been established.