A coalition of youth groups has officially informed the Ghana Police Service about a “peaceful demonstration” its members are set to stage against the Upper East Regional Police Commander, DCOP Raymond Wejong Ali Adofiem.
The notice is contained in a letter handed to the district police command in the region’s capital, Bolgatanga, on Friday, 20 June 2025, by the coordinators of the planned demonstration.
The demo, slated for Saturday, 28 June 2025, will have the participants, bused from across the region, march through some key streets of the capital from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., according to the letter.
Although not much is said in the letter about the reason for the rally, the coalition is quoted in the notice as saying the demonstration is against “the actions” of the regional commander.
A member of the coalition told Media Without Borders that “the concerns the various communities in the region have about the regional commander will be read out to the press after the demonstration and submitted to the IGP.”
Insecurity and unsolved murders
It is believed that the demonstrators will talk about public insecurity fears stemming from some cases where some individuals have been murdered in unknown circumstances.
The coalition might also use the demonstration as a platform to register public concerns about armed robbery attacks that have resulted in some mobile money operators now shutting up their business centres earlier than the usual time.
On Tuesday, 8 October 2024, some armed men suddenly opened fire on a mobile money operator on the Bolgatanga-Navrongo Highway, opposite the URA Radio station of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). A bullet hit a man at the scene.
The night robbery attack happened very close to a police checkpoint, just about three times a penalty spot distance from a goal post. The robbers went away with a lot of money as the people around collided with one another for cover.
Gun shooter above the law after giving police motorbikes?
Sources say the coalition is also going to raise concerns about the failure of the regional command to prosecute one Paazie Naab, a Talensi middle-aged man nicknamed Commando, who was captured in video clips brandishing guns and publicly firing gunshots.
As terrified residents complained and asked that he be prosecuted for flaunting and unlawfully discharging a firearm in public, he donated two motorbikes to the Upper East Regional Police Command.
The gun-shooting Commando was accompanied to the donation ceremony in 2022 by John Nabwomya Millim who recently became the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Talensi amid serious public protests and reported state security advice against his nomination.
Evidence of Commando firing the shots was presented to the Upper East Regional Police Command that that year, but he was not prosecuted
One of the videos shows a commando wielding and firing shots from a gun in public.
In 2025, the same evidence was tendered before the Adofiem-led command, but no prosecutorial action has been taken to this day against Commando. The public believes the gun-shooting gold miner is being treated as above the law because of his motorbike donations to the police.
Commando has a criminal-trial history at the High Court ‘2’ in Bolgatanga where he was charged with stealing, conspiracy to commit crime, unlawful entry and causing unlawful damage.
He stood trial alongside three other accused persons including Boazie Naabil alias Tiger, Suguru Naabil and Binaab Boazie.
Commando’s nephew, Naab Ibrahim Awudu alias Gold Baron, was convicted and sentenced on Friday, 31 January 2025, at the circuit court in Bolgatanga for plotting an attack with some youth of Gban, a Talensi gold-mining suburb, on a businessman called Zongdan Boyak Kolog but popularly known as Polo.
Polo’s arrest and detention
Another issue the coalition is likely to spotlight at the upcoming demonstration is the arrest, alleged assault and detention of Polo by the Adofiem-led command.
Eight representatives of Polo’s firm and Polo were charged with abetment of crime as well as possession of firearms, explosives and ammunition.
The matter is in court and Polo has been on remand for about three weeks, held in police custody from Wednesday 4 June 2025, to date.
Countless residents are of a very strong view that the police planted the weapons on Polo and his men. They also are of the view that Polo is being unjustifiably punished for refusing to surrender his concession to the Chinese company and its local allies.
The residents and Polo’s lawyers from the Kulendi @ Law Maalo Chambers recently petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, to investigate the regional police commander and retrieve the serial number on an AK-47 rifle said to have been found on Polo and conduct a search on the weapon.
“We also hasten to observe that Mr [Adofiem’s] actions as Regional Police Commander smack of the utmost bad faith. In contravention of his lawful duties he rather supports illegal miners against legitimate concession owners.
“His action against our client is anything but lawful. He lured our client to the concession and then turned around to arrest him without cause. We are also informed that the Police seized a legitimately registered pump action gun and unlawfully planted an AK 47 rifle pretending to have found same on the representatives of our client,” the lawyers stated in their petition to the IGP.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana
