Audio By Carbonatix
Wild jubilations greeted the release of Bashiru Mohammed, aka Red, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist who was arrested last Sunday by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
Dozens of NPP party supporters who were at the court yesterday could not hide their joy when it was announced that' Red had been granted bail.
A Tamale Circuit Court presided over by Addu Ampoma granted the suspect bail in the sum of GH¢30,000, with two sureties to be justified. The court ordered him to be reporting weekly to the Tamale Police while investigations were underway to establish other facts.
Red, who is facing charges of possession of weapons without lawful authority and offensive conduct, was arrested by operatives of BNI at the Kotoka International Airport on h is return from South Africa where he had gone to cheer the Ghana Black Stars.
Red was released by the BNI after 16 hours in detention but was re-arrested on Tuesday by the Criminal Investigations Department and subsequently transferred to Tamale to be processed for court yesterday.
Daily Guide gathered that an incident which occurred in 2004 led to the arrest of Red and some colleagues of his. They were put before a Tamale Circuit Court but• were freed for lack of evidence against them.
It was however learnt that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, on assuming office, revisited the matter and ordered the arrest of the suspects to face two charges.
At the time of going to press yesterday; relatives were trooping to the police station to sympathize with Red, who contested for the NPP Regional Youth Organizer position.
NPP members in the region told DAILY GUIDE that his arrest was a political witch-hunt.
Red was among 40 NPP activists who joined soccer fans in South Africa to support the Black Stars in the ongoing FIFA World Cup tournament.
According to the suspect, he was arrested at 12:30am last Sunday, soon after completing his immigration formalities on arrival at the Kotoka International Airport and thrown into a BNI cell, while his passport and other belongings were confiscated.
He was driven straight to the BNI headquarters at Ridge, where a form was given to him to fill. After that, he was thrown straight into cell without any questioning.
"When we reached there I heard the man on duly asking the police what my issue was and they said they were only asked to bring me but they were not sure what exactly I had done. Then around 3:30 pm, they came for me again and said I should call someone to bail me."
The BNI, soon after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) came to power in January 2009, has been arresting and detaining people under dubious circumstances.
Source: Daily Guide/Ghana
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