A dispute over Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) leadership position at the Odorkor lorry station, in Accra, assumed a life threatening dimension last Friday when three persons suffered gunshot wounds.
The gunshots were fired by a gang of self-styled security men, popularly referred to as land guards, allegedly affiliated to one of the feuding factions, who stormed the station ostensibly to cause mayhem.
The victims, Philip Quartey, 25, Jonathan Adjei,33, and Bernard Oko Yaw Boye,35, were rushed to a Hospital, Odorkor, where two of the victims were treated and discharged, while the third was referred to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. The indiscriminate firing of guns by the land-guards, who besieged the station on unregistered motorcycles sent drivers, bus conductors, passengers, hawkers and passerby running helter skelter for their lives.
Eyewitnesses said a police patrol team that came to the scene had a hard time putting the situation under control. As if that was not enough, the land-guards, wielding guns on Saturday stormed the station again to scare almost everyone. They tied red bands at the entrance of the lorry station, and their presence compelled drivers to load on the shoulders of the road which also caused a temporary gridlock on the adjoining roads. DSP Effia Tenge, the Accra Regional Police Public Relations Officer, confirmed the shooting and said efforts are being made to arrest the land-guards while the situation was being monitored. Delving into the conflict, she said initial investigation revealed it was fueled by the appointment of Isaac Mensah, a member of GPRTU Salaga branch and Emmanuel Ankrah Regional chairman of GPRTU as an interim management committee.
According to DSP Tenge, they were appointed by the regional executives of GPTRU to replace the old executives made up of Samuel Quaye, local chairman; Joseph Arhin Adama, the vice chairman, and Kingsley Kwaku Sakyi, the first trustee.
