Lead Convenor of Democracy Hub, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has explained the rationale behind his decision to remove the ignition key of a police towing truck during the recent #ReOccupyJulorbiHouse protest.
According to the activist, who was subsequently arrested and charged by the police for his actions during the protest, his aim was to prevent the truck from causing injury to some protesters in the attempt by the police to tow away a truck containing humanitarian supplies for the protest.
“One of the things is that we brought a little van that has all our equipment inside. It has water, placards, medicine, food, and a public address system. The vehicle had just come and was parked under a tree. Then we saw police officers, and that’s when the escalation started. We saw police officers start to go around the vehicle, presumably thinking that we were going to use the vehicle to do something. In fact, the vehicle was parked under the tree, so I called the driver, told him to lock the vehicle and remove a laptop that was in there; it can stand there, it’s not a problem,” he explained in an interview he granted to Metro TV before his arrest on Monday, September 23, 2024.
“Shortly thereafter, we saw them bringing a tow truck. Despite the individuals and lives there, they started pushing the tow truck right on our legs, and this was deeply concerning to us. So we were finding all kinds of ways to prevent them from towing the vehicle which our supplies were in; this was a humanitarian vehicle,” he added.
The activist stated that he was compelled to remove the ignition key of the truck as a last resort to stop the vehicle from causing injury to the protesters.
Contrary to some claims, he emphasized that his aim was to ensure the safety of the protesters as he immediately threw the key into a crowd of police officers gathered around the scene.
“The vehicle continued to back onto us, eventually you see them start pressing in on us. So you see them pressing in, pushing on me with their batons. So I knew that we had to find a way to extricate ourselves if not people were going to get seriously injured.
“So then you see me eventually find a way to walk out of the police vehicle, go around the police vehicle to see how we can find a way to stop this vehicle from continuing to press on people in order to save lives. So I go in there and I see that they had abandoned the vehicle and it was still on. So I turned the vehicle off in order to stop it from continuing to press onto protesters that were there and what do I do? I moved towards where the other police were and threw the key towards them,” he explained.
Oliver is one of over 50 people charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, unlawful assembly, causing unlawful damage, offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace, assault on a public officer, and defacement of public property following a three-day protest which turned chaotic, leading to the arrest of several demonstrators.
According to the prosecution, Barker-Vormawor, in particular, was seen forcefully entering a police towing van and, without authorization, turning off the engine and removing the ignition key to the towing van. He was remanded into custody by an Accra court following his arraignment.
