Police caution public about victory celebrations (Centre Spread) 22/01/08

Story:Michael Donkor
THE Police Administration has expressed concern with the way Ghanaians celebrated the victory of the Black Stars on Sunday and called on the public to be mindful of the law always.
Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Director of Police Public Affairs Unit, D.S.P. Kwesi Ofori, said it was unlawful for anyone to mount road blocks without authorisation, irrespective of the occasion.
Many major roads were blocked after the Black Stars won the opening match with their Guinean counterparts last Sunday, resulting in heavy traffic jams on the roads.
Some people burnt lorry tyres in the middle of roads while others refused to move away from the roads to allow traffic to move freely.
Some drivers also overloaded their vehicles and drove carelessly in the streets, thereby putting their lives and others’ in danger.
D.S.P. Ofori described the situation as unfortunate and uncalled for and cautioned Ghanaians to desist from such acts.
He said although it was proper for people to jubilate in times of victory, it was important for them to observe the laws of the land and be cautious.
D.S.P. Ofori also cautioned drivers who went into a frenzy and drove carelessly on the roads to realise that careless driving was an offence punishable by the law.
He said any driver caught driving carelessly would be arrested and prosecuted and emphasised that “what was wrong was wrong irrespective of the occasion”. He also said that the police administration would not tolerate that.
D.S.P. Ofori expressed the gratitude of the police to the public for their co-operation and support they gave during the opening match at the Ohene Djan Stadium.
He also commended the visitors to the Ghana 2008 tournament for comporting themselves during the match and urged them to continue doing so.
He said no criminal act was reported during and after the match on Sunday and gave the assurance that the police would endeavour to provide the needed security for all the matches and make the tournament incident-free.
He said, however, that anyone caught for misconduct or doing anything to disrupt the tournament would not be spared.