Eastern Regional Police warns drivers

Police Superintendent James Sarfo Peprah, Eastern Regional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), has warned that the police would not tolerate any assault on its officers, detailed for road traffic duties. According to him, the number of fatal accidents recorded in the short period of the New Year was not the best, and in view of that, the police would not tolerate recalcitrant drivers, who after committing traffic offences, attempt to assault police officers. He said most of the times, offending drivers verbally assault the officers, when they refused their pleas or attempts to bribe them. Speaking in an interview with the GNA, after an educational programme for drivers at the Koforidua main lorry station, Superintendent Peprah emphasized that an assault on a police officer on duty was an offence, liable for prosecution and that the police would not take that situation kindly. He said the police officer on the road was to ensure the safety of all road users, including drivers, passengers and pedestrians and the public must appreciate that role instead of demeaning it. Superintendent Peprah recalled an incident where one police officer detailed for traffic duty, attempted to arrest a taxi cab driver for jumping the red light, but was assaulted, leading to the loss of his two upper front teeth. According to the MTTU boss, the assault on police personnel detailed for traffic duties in the region was becoming rampant, adding that, this year alone, about three cases had appeared before him. He told the drivers that any police officer in uniform on road traffic duty or otherwise was backed by the state and therefore must be accorded respect and decorum. Superintendent Peprah urged the drivers to obey traffic regulations, saying that, the number of fatal accidents recorded in the region and other parts of the country within this short period of the New Year were worrying.