Lawyer and Manhyia South MP, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, has described an attempt by officials of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to take him into custody as an “unlawful arrest.”
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, Mr Baffour Awuah said an EOCO official approached him after he had addressed the media outside court and told him he was needed at the agency.
He said the official then held his wrist firmly, forcing him to wriggle himself free. “She held my hand so tight, so firmly that I had to wriggle myself from her hand,” he said.
According to him, he offered to drive himself to EOCO, but the official insisted that he could not use his own vehicle.
He said he subsequently asked to see identification proving the officers were from EOCO, but the request was denied.
“It was at that point that I asked her, Where is your ID? What even shows you are from EOCO? She couldn’t even produce it,” he said.
Mr Baffour Awuah said the circumstances made him suspect that the incident could be linked to the kidnappings he alleged had been occurring.
“I thought that, look, this is one of the kidnappings that have been going on, illegal; this is one of the kidnappings, state-sponsored kidnappings that have been going on, and so I will not sit in the car,” he said.
He maintained that he was prepared to cooperate with EOCO if the agency followed what he described as the proper process.
“I would rather sit in my car and now make sure that when EOCO is right ready to do the right thing, I will go there. I’m not afraid of anything,” he said.
The MP also rejected the suggestion that he was avoiding lawful arrest by proceeding to Parliament after the incident.
“This is an unlawful arrest. This is an unlawful arrest,” he said.
He described the attempted arrest as “an attempt to abduct me by persons who don’t want to work with law.”
Mr Baffour Awuah said seeking sanctuary at Parliament was therefore justified. “It is not wrong if I’m seeking sanctuary. It is not wrong if I’m seeking sanctuary,” he said.
“In fact, you seek sanctuary against kidnappers, and so if I’m seeking sanctuary, it is not wrong.”
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