The Eastern regional branch of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the regional police commander and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to, as a matter of urgency, call thugs they suspect to be members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), to order.

According to the NPP, there have been consistent violent attacks on their supporters by NDC thugs while police in the region have failed to take action.

A statement signed by Nana Asem Bi Nti, Convener of the Eastern Patriots, a group within the NPP, said: “We have been monitoring the current assault on NPP sympathisers by some frustrated NDC youths in some constituencies in the Eastern Region.”

The statement alleged: “Quite recently, the MCE, who doubles as NDC [parliamentary candidate] for Suhum, Margaret Ansei, and [some] … youth have taken the law into their hands because they have the support of the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah. Information we have from Hon Margaret Ansei and her desperate NDC supporters is that they have the support of the Chief of Staff who commands the IGP and the regional commander to do as he says, so they can misbehave …”

“We are calling on the IGP and the Eastern regional police commander to immediately arrest the MCE for Suhum, who is openly behind all the current confusion and tension at Suhum. If the law can't work on her, then we will follow the drum and dance with the same tune. We are also making it clear that if she is not advised to stop such barbaric attitude of sending her useless youth to attack our youths and we lose a single soul, then her party would lose her as well. If there is no justice, there will not be peace.”