The alleged comments by the officers who were recording the incident captured on a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) screen with a mobile device that has gone viral on social media sparking uproar among members of the Muslim community.
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IGP interdicts four police officers caught on tape over Islamophobic comments
The Inspector-General of Police of the Ghana Police Service has interdicted four police officers for passing remarks deemed Islamophobic, following the disturbances at the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
George Akuffo Dampare
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The officers were heard saying "Have you seen their attitude [referring to students of the Islamic SHS]? Do you think if it was an Akan school they will behave that way?"
Another exclaimed: "They are dirty. They are dirty! Wherever these Muslims are, there is a problem…"
The Operations Commander of the Ghana Police Service, DCOP Mohammed Suraji, on behalf of the IGP who led a delegation to visit the Zongo Chief of Kumasi, Alhaji Umar Sulta Farouk confirmed that the four officers have been interdicted.
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DCOP Suraji condemned the comments and said "Such [a comment] doesn't represent the Ghana Police. So we are here to apologize. As I speak the officers, including a Chief Inspector have been interdicted. They are under service inquiry for exhibiting such unprofessional conduct and we support this decision. We should treat this with the contempt it deserves."
Meanwhile, the Police Administration has also removed the Deputy Ashanti Regional Commander, DCOP Kwasi Akomeah Apraku from his position following the incident.
Two other senior officers have also been interdicted following an initial police probe into the disturbance at the Islamic SHS.
"It was further established that even though nobody was hit by a bullet, the Police handling of the incident was poor and fell short of our standard operating procedure on crowd control," the Police announced in a statement.
A police statement opined that the conduct of officers who responded to the protest by the students fell short of the professional police conduct on crowd control.
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In all, about twenty (20) students were hospitalized after police fired pepper spray and warning shots to disperse the crowd of students who had blocked the road during the protest.
Students and Police officers who were injured in the process have been treated and discharged.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has assured students of Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi that his outfit will do all it can to protect them.
"Each and every one of you has been brought to this world to achieve a particular purpose for which no other person can accomplish it. Therefore we have a responsibility to ensure that all of you are safe and live to your full potential so as for you to be able to distinguish yourself and your God-given destiny for this generation and general unborn.
"Therefore, anything that will take you out of this world before the accomplishment of your destiny is something that is ungodly and we will do whatever it takes to ensure that it doesn’t happen,” Dr. Dampare said when he addressed the students."
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