Hackman K. Afriyie, reporter of ASTA FM an independent radio station based in Techiman, a city in the northern part of Ghana was slapped by Eric Gyamfi a police constable for his alleged criticisms of the police.
Constable Gyamfi, who is stationed at Akomadan, a town near Techiman also insulted the journalist and threatened to shoot him dead whenever he (Gyamfi) is on night duty.Afriyie told Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in a telephone interview that, on the night of the incident, the police Constable confronted him at a Bus Terminal, immediately after a function they both attended. “He started with no provocation, he hurl to insults at me”, “You are a bad reporter”, he said and followed by slapping him five times. “As if that was not enough, he followed me to the nearby police station in Akomdan, where I had rushed to lodge a complaint and further assaulted me in the presence of an officer of the station, Sergeant Frimpong and the wife of one Corporal Addo.Afriyie noted that the Constable revealed that: “You have been disgracing police personnel on air, and I have assaulted you free of charge, because you cannot take any action against me as I am away for operational duty, outside the town”.
Afriyie said his employers later directed him to the District Police Officer who issued him with a medical form to seek medical attention at the Techiman Holy Family Hospital where he was admitted overnight for treatment.