Mohammed Sulemana, a member of the National Security SWAT team, has admitted he erred after he was caught on camera assaulting MP for Ningo Prampram, Sam George during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.
He, however, said he was provoked by ethnocentric insults allegedly uttered by the MP “the moment he saw my tribal marks.”
Mohammed Sulemana was seen in the viral video descending from a pick-up and hitting Sam George.
According to him, Sam George “was shouting around the place” and “that is why I came down to knock him.”
But the National Security personnel said he was unaware at the time that Sam George was an MP.
“Even if he is in front of me, I can’t identify him,” he told the Short commission on Friday.
He also said: “what he [Sam George] was doing and the way he was acting didn’t make him seem like a Member of Parliament.”
“If I had known that this was an MP, I would never have done that… I was guilty of what I did. I regretted all I did. Whenever you err or offend somebody, what you need to say is I am sorry, I will not do that again.”
He also noted that “usually when I go on operations, I sit in the car until when there is any arrest then I come down to assist with the arrest.”
Sam George’s narration
On the election day, Sam George was seen in the widely circulated video shouting at the security personnel in a parked vehicle, claiming they wanted to kill a man in his house.
It was during the exchange that Mohammed Sulemana stepped out of the parked pick-up truck to hit the MP.
He was then punched by another person in uniform suspected to be part of the security team.
The video circulating on social media indicate that the attack on the MP resulted in fisticuffs between the police and supporters of the NDC.
It was after this point, he went to hide after the events which he said left him traumatised.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
Follow @delalibessa
