General News of Monday, 5 March 2018

Source: thefinderonline.com

CID probes police officer for arrests over Shatta Wale video

Shatta Wale in verbal exchange with the policeman Shatta Wale in verbal exchange with the policeman

The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service is investigating Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) K. Azalekor, for arresting three people in connection with a video in which he engaged in an altercation with Dancehall Artiste, Shatta Wale.

ASP Azalekor of the National Patrol Department (NPD), Accra Region, last Friday arrested one Maame Afua and sent her to the Legon Police Station.

In a video that has gone viral, the self-acclaimed Dancehall King is captured engaging in a hot exchange of words with a policeman at East Legon.
The police officer is seen ordering the artiste and his friends to get into their cars and follow him to the police station.

Shatta Wale, after unsuccessful attempts to persuade the policeman to let him and his friends go, flared up, raining words on the police officer for dealing with a public figure like him in such a manner.

Investigations by The Finder indicate that the senior police officer made a report that on Thursday at about 15:20pm, while on patrol with his team, he had an encounter with Shatta Wale, a popular musician at Mempeasem, near Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon.

According to him, during the encounter, the suspect, Maame Afua, assisted by the daughter of her madam, who is currently on the run, took a video of what transpired at the scene and circulated same on social media.

ASP Azalekor, in his report, said he arrested Maame Afua to inform police for further action.

When contacted, Maame Afua told The Finder that around 3:00pm last Thursday, the policeman stopped a car with a number plate as Shatta 2.

According to her, ASP Azalekor sat in Shatta Wale’s car for a while and alighted.

She explained that, minutes later, Shatta Wale came to the scene with his Range Rover and parked it in the middle of the road.

She said discussions between the musician and the police officer turned into heated exchanges, and Shatta Wale drove off and was soon followed by the Shatta 2 car and the police vehicle.

Maame Afua explained that the heated exchanges drew her attention, adding that she came out of a hairdressing salon where she works to witness the altercation between the musician and the peace officer.

According to her, the police officer returned to the scene of the incident the following day to show her a video.



The policeman told her that since she appeared in the video, they are looking for the one who shot the video.

Maame Afua said she told the police officer that she did not take the video but it is possible the video was shot by her madam’s daughter.

She stated that the police drove her to the madam’s house with the intention of arresting the madam’s daughter, but the lady was not home.

She told The Finder that the police then took her to Legon Police Station and detained her and said she would only be released when the one who shot the video is arrested.

The hairdresser said she called her madam, who in turn called Agbeko Kumordzi, a neighbour, to go to the police station to help her.

Kumordzi told The Finder that when he got to the police station, a woman who is a customer of the hairdresser was at the police station seeking why the hairdresser was arrested.

According to Kumordzi, one police officer attempted to assault the lady for insisting to know why the hairdresser was arrested.

He said a taxi driver who drove the lady to the police station prevented the police officer from assaulting the lady.

Angered by the action of the taxi driver, Kumordzi said two police officers corked a pistol and a rifle, pushed the driver to the ground and detained him too.

He said the police officers also detained the woman who was insisting on knowing the rationale behind the arrest of the hairdresser and the taxi driver.

Kumordzi alleged that Azalekor ordered that the persons detained should not be granted bail.

However, he said a crime officer, named Aboagye, who came to the Legon Police Station on monitoring duties, ordered that they be granted bail to report on Saturday.

Maame Afua reported to the police station the following day and one officer accompanied her to the hairdressing shop to inspect where the vehicles in the video were parked during the incident.

Shatta Wale responds

Meanwhile, Shatta Wale has come out with an explanation for his reaction towards the police officer.

The musician, born Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jr., indicated that one of the law enforcement officers called him a rascal, a description he deems very offensive.