Police investigate clash on University of Ghana campus

The Accra Regional Police Command is investigating what seemed to be a reprisal attack on the Mensah Sarbah Hall of the University of Ghana by some unidentified students at dawn on Tuesday.

The reprisal attack followed a clash between students of the Commonwealth Hall (Vandals) of the university and students of the University Hall (Katanga) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) last Monday.

About 30 unidentified students were said to have attacked students of the Mensah Sarbah Hall by throwing stones from outside the hall and breaking windows and doors.

• One injured, 10 arrested in students clash on Legon campus
• Watch the viral video which sparked a clash between the Vandals and Katanga

Briefing

Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Accra Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mrs Effia Tenge, said about 1 a.m. on Monday, the Legon Police received a call from a porter of the Mensah Sarbah Hall that about 30 unknown students were throwing stones to the entrance of the hall.

However, she said, when the police got to the scene, the students had absconded, leaving some louvre blades of the Mensah Sarbah Hall main entrance broken.  No injuries recorded

It is suspected that the attack was in retaliation of an earlier clash which occurred about 2:30 p.m. last Monday, during which 10 students were arrested for breaking the public order law and disturbing the peace on the university campus.

Those arrested comprised five students of the Katanga Hall of the KNUST, three students from the Mensah Sarbah Hall and two students from the Commonwealth Hall of the University of Ghana.

Arrested students

Although the cause of last Monday’s clash was not known to the police as of the time of going to press, the police said the students from KNUST were scheduled to debate their fellows from the University of Ghana.

Mrs Tenge said when the police received information that some students were engaged in a fight, personnel from the Legon District Command, with reinforcement from the Police Headquarters Motorbike Patrol and a combat team from the Airport Police and Legon Police Motorbike Patrol teams, went to the scene to restore calm.

While most of the students fled on seeing the police, 10 of them were picked for rioting and taken to the Legon and East Legon Police stations, where they were interrogated, cautioned and their statements taken.

Based on previous experiences, Mrs Tenge said the University of Ghana had been advised by the police to inform them to beef up security at the university any time activities, involving students from other universities, were to take place on the campus.

She explained that the University of Ghana had its own internal security that handled security matters but when they were overwhelmed, they called the police to assist.

Video

She said the police also had information that some students from the University Hall had locked up a Commonwealth Hall student at the Mensah Sarbah Hall, where he was being molested.

After liaising with the Students Representative Council (SRC) of the University of Ghana, the hall master and security of the university teamed up with the police to rescue him.

The victim, who was found with his hair shaved, and his shirt torn, told the police that he was assaulted by those who locked him up.

A video of how the victim was locked up and molested went viral on a number of social media platforms last Monday.