Ghana Police command takes over investigations of siphoning fuel from tanker by cops

A team of police officers has been despatched from the Police Headquarters to take over investigations into the alleged siphoning of fuel from a tanker by policemen at Adadientem, near Ejisu in the Ashanti Region.

The Officer in charge of Public Relations at the Ashanti Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr Yusif Mohammed Tanko, said in an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday that the team had already started work.

Earlier, the Regional Police Command had issued a statement saying preliminary investigations into the matter indicated that the fuel had not been siphoned by the policemen.

The statement, dated April 24, 2013 and signed by Mr Tanko, said the policemen had rather seized fuel from members of the public who were stealing it from the tanker.

The fuel tanker was involved in an accident at Adadientem on the Ejisu-Konongo road about 7.30 p.m. on April 19, 2013.

A resident of the area was said to have used his mobile phone to photograph policemen who were allegedly siphoning the fuel from the tanker.

Media reports later compelled the Ashanti Regional Police Command to institute investigations into the allegation.

According to the statement, the police went to the accident scene, where some members of the community were seen siphoning fuel leaking from the tanker.

It said water from the fire tender that was sent to the scene was used to disperse the crowd after several attempts to do so had failed.

“The crowd deserted the containers used in siphoning the fuel and run helter-skelter. The police then loaded the containers into a service vehicle and carried them to the Ejisu Police Station for necessary action,” it said.

The statement called on persons with contrary information to bring it forward to assist in investigations.

Source: Daily Graphic