Four suspects freed over attack on CEO of TTH

Four persons who were arrested by the police in connection with the attack on the Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), Dr David Zaawumya Akolbila, by the Kandahar Boys, a Tamale-based vigilante group said to be affiliated to the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been released.

Custody

Earlier, the Northern Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Mohammed Yussif Tanko, told the Daily Graphic that the suspects were in police custody assisting in further investigations.

“We have managed to round up four persons for now but we are not certain whether they are part of the suspects we are looking for or not. We have invited the CEO  and other staff of the hospital to come and help in identifying them.

“The police have also located the home of Alhaji Baba Alhassan, the young man captured in a video speaking on behalf of the group. We went to his house but he was not around. Efforts are being made to get him arrested to help in investigations,” he stated.

Strike 

Meanwhile, patients who turned up at the TTH for medical care on Wednesday were turned away because of a strike by doctors and other health professionals at the facility in solidarity with the CEO.

Not even emergency cases were attended to and many patients, who were unaware of the strike, were left stranded at the Out-patients Department (OPD).

The hospital staff attended to only in-patients.

The indefinite strike was declared late Tuesday.

A closed-door meeting between members of the Northern Regional Security Committee (REGSEC) and the leadership of the doctors, nurses, midwives and pediatric unions of the TTH over the indefinite strike ended inconclusively yesterday morning.

After the meeting, which lasted about two hours, the leadership of the various unions unequivocally condemned the attack on the CEO and called for adequate safety measures to be put in place at the hospital.

Assurance

The Northern Regional Minister, Mr Salifu Saeed, gave an assurance that an amicable solution would be arrived at for the striking staff to resume work.

“The various working unions will put their heads together and get back to us. We have also assured the staff that we will put adequate measures in place to ensure their security, as we move to put up a police post at the hospital,” he added.

For his part, the Public Relations Officer of the TTH, Dr Ken Mensah, said the staff would make their decision on the strike known after members of the unions had deliberated upon the outcome of their meeting with the REGSEC.