TRANSFER OF GUSHIEGU SUSPECTS SUSPENDED (SPREAD)

THE transfer of the six suspects who were arrested in connection with the political violence at Gushiegu in the Northern Region last Monday to Accra for screening and subsequent prosecution has been suspended temporarily.
The suspects include three siblings, Mohammed Alidu, 25, Abukari Alidu, 26 and Sulemana Alidu, 30. The rest are Alhassan Mohammed, 26, Mohammed Imoro, 41, and Alidu Abdulai, 42.
As a result, the suspects who were all sent to the Tamale Airport last Saturday morning to be flown to Accra had to be brought back and placed under police custody.
Briefing the press at the Tamale Airport last Saturday, the Deputy Northern Regional Police Commander, ACP Maxwell Atindane, said further investigations were ongoing to apprehend more suspects connected to the disturbances so that they could be transferred en masse.
The transfer of the suspects to Accra followed an order by the Interior Minister, Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, to that respect during a meeting with the leadership of major political parties, the security, religious and opinion leaders in Tamale last Thursday.
The minister and his delegation were in Tamale to ascertain the security situation in the metropolis and Gushiegu and also examine the level of damage to life and property in the troubled areas.
The violence at Gushiegu was a spill-over from an earlier clash between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Kpatinga near Gushiegu, last Sunday 31 August.
The NPP supporters were returning home after erecting a party shed, while their NDC colleagues were also on their way after attending a rally in the same locality.
The situation further degenerated when both supporters returned to Gushiegu to narrate the incident to their followers, leading to the mayhem that was visited on the town on Monday morning September 1.
A number of properties were destroyed, while some people sustained various degrees of injuries in the ensuing violence.
Both parties have, however, blamed each other for being the aggressors.