Ernest Owusu Bempah threatens to sue BNI
Communications Director of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Mr Ernest Owusu Bempah, has threatened to sue the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) for infringing on his human rights.
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He feels bitter and perturbed and finds it surprising to have been subjected to a total humiliation by some officials of the BNI.
Speaking on Hello FM, a Kumasi-based radio station, Mr Bempah, aka Aboa Apaapo, said attempt by five officials from the BNI and two police officers to arrest him last Monday night on the Peace FM premises in Accra was unacceptable.
He recalled that it was not the first time BNI officials had subjected him to “dehumanisation” and hinted that he would have no alternative but to sue the BNI and furnish the British High Commission with the information.
Background
Officials of the BNI were on Monday evening reportedly prevented from picking up Mr Owusu Bempah for making disparaging remarks about President John D Mahama on Accra-based Peace FM.
The BNI operatives stormed the premises of Peace FM where the maverick aide to former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, had allegedly made the offensive comments while participating in a political talk show.
Mr Owusu Bempah is alleged to have implicated the President in a recent 12.5-kg cocaine bust at Heathrow Airport involving a Ghanaian lady who also holds Austrian citizenship.
Nayele Ametefe is currently being held by the British authorities for drug offences. She has been on the wanted list of Ghana’s Narcotics Control Board since 2009.
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Bempah
Narrating the story, Mr Owusu Bempah said he had joined two other panellists - former Ashanti Regional Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kwaku Boahen and a Deputy Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Yaw Adomako Baafi – to speak on Peace Fm’s evening programme: “The Platform” hosted by Nana Yaw Kese.
He said as part of the discussions on the programme, he touched on topical cocaine saga involving Nayele Ametefe whose arrest in Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom (UK) for possessing 12.5kg of cocaine is an issue in media circles.
Mr Bempah said he was of the view that the arrest of Ametefe posed a threat to security agencies, even the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), and to a larger extent, served as an indictment on the government for a cocaine dealer to possess a diplomatic passport.
Ordeal of manhandling
Explaining his ordeal, Owusu Bempah said after the programme had ended at around 11p.m., he was about to enter his vehicle when the five persons approached him and introduced themselves as BNI officials who had been instructed to cause his arrest.
He said he engaged in a scuffle with the said BNI officials and resisted the purported arrest, a scene that attracted a number of passers-by, some workers of Peace FM and interested associates who joined Mr Owusu Bempah to protest the arrest.
BNI invitation
Meanwhile, Mr Owusu Bempah and Mr Adomako Baafi have been invited by the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) for questioning following their comments on the arrest of a Ghanaian alleged to have attempted to smuggle 12.5kg of cocaine to the UK.
The decision to invite the two followed their attempt to resist arrest by agents of the investigative agency on Monday evening.