How customs officers allegedly beat up the 'wrong man' over theft allegations

play videoScene of the incident

Some officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) have been accused of brutalising an innocent civilian who was accused of stealing.

A viral video sighted by GhanaWeb showed the officers who got down from a white pickup truck asking people to sit on the floor.

From this group, they picked out one man and started beating him up.

The man, who was narrating the incident in the video which appeared to be from a CCTV camera, claimed that it happened at Paradise a resort near Linda Dor restaurant at Nsutam in the Eastern Region.

He alleged that the customs officers captured in the video, numbering about 5, are from the Nsutam office of customs.

The narrator, who identified himself as Kwaku Adu, said that the officers trooped to Paradise after a man reported to them that he had been robbed by someone who was driving a black vehicle.

“When they arrived at the scene, they started beating up a young man who was standing close to a black vehicle without asking him any questions. The man was at the place to have a meeting with the daughter of the owner of Paradise.

“When they (the officers) got there, they asked everyone to sit on the floor and asked whom the car belong to. The gentleman said it was his and at once they started beating him up, kicking him and hitting him with their guns,” he said in Twi.

Kwaku Adu also said that the officers took him (the accused person) to their office and the accuser arrived there only to tell them that they had arrested the wrong person.

He added that all their attempts to get justice for the victim have proven futile. He called on authorities who had seen the video to help the young man, whom he said is still incapacitated from the beats he got.

Watch a video of the incident below: