National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has denounced what he termed ‘illegal detention’ of Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor, the party’s Parliamentary Candidate for the Awutu Senya East Constituency.
According to him, her detention at the Cantonments Police Station on Friday is unreasonable and unjustifiable.
He refuted claims of a discrepancy in her name, citing evidence such as her Ghana Card and campaign poster, both bearing the name “Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor.”
In a statement, Sammy Gyamfi stressed that documents pertaining to the gun found in the PC possession, all bear her name, emphasizing that she procured and registered the firearm for personal protection and had not used it against anyone.
Drawing attention to a previous incident involving Hawa Koomson, a member of the opposing party who admitted to firing a gun at a voter registration center, Gyamfi questioned the discrepancy in treatment between the two cases.
“What did the NPP-controlled police do in the case of Hawa Koomson, who actually fired a gun at a voter registration center?”
“This same Hawa Koomson has threatened Naa Koryoo at gun point on four (4) different occasions, according to her lawyers. This is why she was compelled to buy and register a gun in her name for her protection,” he said.
Expressing disdain for the actions of the police, Sammy Gyamfi criticized the leadership for allegedly allowing themselves to be manipulated by the government against innocent civilians.
He warned that the NDC would not be intimidated, and called for Naa Koryoo’s immediate release.
Find the statement below:
SAMMY GYAMFI WRITES ON THE ILLEGAL DETENTION OF PHILLIS NAA KORYOO OKUNOR, NDC PC FOR AWUTU SENYA EAST
1. Comrades, it is very clear that the NPP-controlled Police service has no reasonable or justifiable cause to be detaining the NDC Parliamentary Candidate for the Awutu Senya East Constituency.
2. The claim of a discrepancy in her first name is totally false.
3. Attached is a picture of the PC’s Ghana Card which bears the name “Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor”.
4. Also attached is a soft copy of her campaign poster, which bears the same name “Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor”.
5. Also, attached are pictures of the license, permit and other documents covering the gun that was found in her car, which all bear the name “Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor” (save that on the license the last letter “o” of her middle name “Koryoo” was omitted by the police officer who filled it”.)
6. What then is Naa Koryoo’s crime? Is it now a crime to procure and register/license a gun in your name for personal protection? A gun she has not fired at anybody?
7. What did the NPP-controlled police do in the case of Hawa Koomson, who actually fired a gun at a voter registration center?
8. This same Hawa Koomson has threatened Naa Koryoo at gun point on four (4) different occasions, according to her lawyers. This is why she was compelled to buy and register a gun in her name for her protection.
8. What a load of nonsense from the Dampare-led Police. Is this the transformation of the Ghana Police Service that IGP Dampare promised Ghanaians – that a Parliamentary Candidate of the NDC will be detained overnight by the Police for a reason as flimsy and trivial as this?
9. The leadership of the NPP-controlled Police must bow down their heads in shame for allowing themselves to be used by the despotic Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government against innocent civilians.
10. We in the NDC will not be intimidated or cowered by this disgraceful and oppressive conduct of the Police. The demand for the release of Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor continues today. #FreeKoryooNow #ResistOppressorsRule