NDC FEUDING FACTIONS CLASH OVER LORRY PARK (PAGE 14)

A clash between two feuding factions of the National Democratic Congress over a lorry park at Ashaiman resulted in the injury of several people, including activists of the party.
Those who received gunshot wounds are James Arua, 25, Yakubu Alhassan, 34, Ismael Worlanyo ,28, Abdulai Abubakar, 25, Suleman Tahiru, 33, Iddrisu Yakubu, 32, and Mohammed Usman,35.
Arua is still on admission at Tema General Hospital but Alhassan, Worlanyo,Abubakar,Tahiru, Yakubu and Usman were treated and discharged.
They were, however, asked to return to the hospital today for the bullets embedded in their bodies to be removed.
Police from the Buffalo Unit in Tema and Accra quickly went to the scene to bring the situation under control.
The Tema Regional Police Commander, DCOP John Kudalor, who was at the scene immediately convened a closed door meeting with the leadership of the feuding factions.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the meeting, DCOP Kudalor said he warned the factions to note that it was illegal to take over a lorry park without authority .
The commander said he explained to them that there was a process that interested people had to go through to acquire and operate lorry parks.
DCOP Kudalor said the original operator of the lorry park, Mr John Kojo Gyapong, a former Member of Parliament for the Akan Constituency, had the license to operate the lorry park and therefore must be allowed to continue until the expiry of his contract at the end of this year.
He told the Daily Graphic that the issue had been resolved and that the police would continue to monitor activities at the lorry park to ensure sanity.
According to the Tema Regional Police Public Relations Officer , Chief Inspector Olivia Turkson, an alleged NDC task force was reported to have taken over the lorry park at Ashaiman, known as ‘Kufuor park’, on Monday, April 20, 2009.
She said the task force locked out the original operators of the lorry park and collected the loading fees from drivers who plied the Teshie , Nungua , Adjei Kojo routes.
Chief Inspector Turkson said this issue was under investigation until Saturday when another group, suspected to be sympathisers of Mr Gyapong, who had a license to operate also moved in to attack the supposed NDC task force.
She said there were incidents of shooting and use of cutlasses and sticks during the clash, as a result of which some of the people involved in the clash, and passers-by sustained gunshot and cutlass wounds.
Chief Inspector Turkson said the police would intensify its investigations to identify the source of the gunshots, and those found guilty would be arrested and prosecuted .
It was later found out that the former MP had a license issued on February 24, 2009 from the Ashaiman Municpal Assembly (ASHMA) in the name of his company , Rural Action Co-operative.