General News of Monday, 8 June 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

I was kidnapped by police and soldiers – Ernesto Yeboah speaks about George Floyd vigil arrest

Ernesto Yeboah was arrested during the vigil of George Floyd Ernesto Yeboah was arrested during the vigil of George Floyd

Ernesto Yeboah, the leader of Economic Fighters League, has described his arrest last Saturday night as a “kidnap” by the security forces.

According to him, the police was not able to tell exactly what his crime was; rather they were insisting that his arrest for organising a vigil for George Floyd was an “order from above”.

“I was kidnapped from the space [Independence Square] because there was no warrant of arrest, there was no reason for my being taken away…” Ernesto Yeboah told Joy News in an interview.

He said he only obliged to follow the police because of the hype his followers and other Ghanaians gave the vigil, therefore, he thought it better to acquiesce to the police to avoid the whole program being disrupted.

“I joined them [police] to the Ministries Police Station, and then in about 30 minutes, I was relocated to the Accra District Police Station,” he narrated.

Ernesto Yeboah was arrested on Saturday, June 6, 2020.

He was leading a vigil against police brutalities in the USA, especially after the killing of the African-American, George Floyd, which sparked global protests.

The sun has never set on the protests which have gone on for some 10 days - the UK, Germany, Australia, Japan, and many other places have witnessed largely peaceful protests at such time intervals that ensure round-the-clock protests.

The Independence Square event was Ghana's first, but unfortunately, the viral videos of soldiers hitting unarmed civilians is Ghana's attitude to the trending human rights and equality protests.

Watch below how Ernesto Yeboah was arrested.