Angry NPP youth at Karaga lock out office of DCE

Some angry youth of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Karaga Constituency in the Northern Region last Tuesday morning locked up the offices of the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Karaga and the District Coordinating Director (DCD) to prevent the two officials from working.

The DCE, Mr Alhassan Yabdoo and his DCD share a common reception and the youth padlocked the main entrance to the two offices, denying both the DCE and the DCD access to their offices.

The action of the youth was the result of a disagreement between the DCE, who, until his appointment, was the constituency secretary of the NPP, and the NPP constituency chairman, who was suspended during the 2016 electioneering but had since been reinstated.

Assault

The angry youth are also alleged to have assaulted an Information Officer of the assembly, Mr Alhassan Adams, and seized his mobile phone for trying to take pictures of the incident.

The irate youth are also said to have stormed the DCE’s residence which is under renovation and stopped the contractor and his workers from working.

Reason for the lock out

The youth claimed the DCE did not give recognition to the constituency chairman after his reinstatement and, therefore, they would also not give recognition to the DCE.

They further claimed that the DCE had refused to attend meetings called by the constituency chairman, hence their decision to lock him out of his office to prevent him from holding himself out as the DCE for the area.

Eyewitness

The district information officer, who said he was assaulted by the irate youth, numbering about 30, told the Daily Graphic that he was at the office around 7.30 a.m. when the irate youth came to the assembly premises to lock out the DCE.

He said the youth entered the common reception for the DCE and the DCD, took the keys and used a padlock to lock the main entrance to the offices.

Mr Adams said when the youth realised that he was using his mobile phone to take pictures of their action, they pounced on him, seized the phone and assaulted him.

He said it took the timely intervention of the police to save him from the hands of the irate youth, adding that the police were able to retrieve his phone from the youth but they managed to delete all the pictures he had taken during the incident.

Police

The Karaga District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Adiak Thompson, who confirmed the story to the Daily Graphic, said he managed to disperse the youth and had since broken the padlock they used in locking up the offices.

He said the action of the youth stemmed from a disagreement between the DCE and the NPP constituency chairman.

He said no arrest had been made so far.