The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) has declared its intention to petition the Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, to increase security at the various courts.

JUSAG says recent attacks on judicial staff are unacceptable.

Speaking to Citi News after some irate youth attacked the Tamale Circuit Court, JUSAG President Samuel Afotey Otu said the police must protect the courts.

“We have laws of the land when issues of this sort happen, we have a way of dealing with them. So we call on the police to deal with them. We also call for more support from the government as well as the police service, headed by the IGP to make sure they provide security, and more security personnel when such cases are going on in the courts. So we want them to intensify their security,” the President of the Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana appealed.

Background

The Tamale District Court was attacked on Monday, August 28, 2023, when some residents stormed the court premises in large numbers and pelted the court with stones, destroying fixtures and injuring a police officer.

This led to an exchange of gunfire between the police and the irate youth.

The youth besieged the court, claiming to ensure that a drug peddler who had been causing destruction to the lives of the youth through his business was adequately prosecuted.

The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG) has condemned the unlawful invasion of the premises of the Tamale District Court by some residents in the area.

However, the chief of Tamale, Gulkpegu Naa, has called on the police to immediately and unconditionally release the suspects arrested in connection with the attack on the Tamale District Court on Monday, August 28, 2023.

The suspects were arrested after a group of irate youth stormed the court premises and pelted it with stones, destroying fixtures and injuring a police officer.

The youth were protesting the release of a drug dealer who they accused of being shielded by the police.

Following the attack, 13 suspects were arrested.

Addressing the media on behalf of the chief, Saha Naa Abdul Latif, said the police should release the suspects and return their motorbikes.

He also alleged that the police stormed the Gukpe Naa’s Palace and started shooting into the palace, wounding five people.