“They held my neck, pulled my hands behind my back, and assaulted me,” recounts journalist after GNFS attack

Samuel Addo, a journalist with Class Media, has filed an official police report detailing a violent assault he claims was carried out by personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS).

The incident occurred while Addo was covering a fire outbreak at the Kasoa New Market.

In a chilling account, Addo described being overpowered by a group of officers.

“They held my neck, pulled my hands behind my back, and assaulted me,” he stated, recounting the moment after he attempted to film what he says was the assault of civilians at a fire station.

According to Addo, he had gone to the station to seek the GNFS’s side of the story after initially reporting on the market fire for a morning show. Upon filming the alleged altercation between officers and civilians, a lone officer first approached him. After Addo identified himself as media, the officer walked away, only to return minutes later with about ten colleagues.

“They took my phone, tore my belt, and took both away,” Addo told Accra-based Citi News.

While his mobile phone was later returned through the intervention of the area’s Member of Parliament, Phyllis Naa Koryor, a significant sum of money vanished. Addo discovered that GHS10,200 was missing from the GHS20,000 he had been carrying.

The journalist has been issued a police medical form and is seeking hospital treatment for his injuries. “The money is still missing. I have reported everything to the police,” he added.

The alleged attack has intensified scrutiny on the safety of journalists in the line of duty and the conduct of security personnel, prompting a formal police investigation into the events at the Kasoa fire station.

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