Ghanaian TV personality and journalist, Bridget Otoo, has shared her side of the story on the alleged maltreatment meted to her by some officers of the Ghana Police Service during the just-ended #OccupyJulorBiHouse protest.
She touched on the genesis of the reported assault and how she managed to come out unscathed during an interview on JoyNews on Monday, September 25, 2023.
Bridget Otoo last Thursday, September 21, participated in the three-day #OccupyJulorBiHouse to demand a resolution to the ongoing economic crisis being faced under the Akufo-Addo-led government.
The first day of the protest faced a stalemate as the police whisked away 49 protestors, arguing that they had breached the Public Order Act for illegally converging after it had filed an injunction on the protest.
During the arrest, Bridget Otoo was reportedly assaulted by some officers when she showed up at the police station with a few other protestors.
On why she found herself in such a position, Bridget revealed that she sought to use herself as surety for individuals who had been arrested to be released.
“As a concerned citizen, I wanted to take part of the protest because there were so many things that bothers me as a person and as a journalist. Being able to speak freely is very important to me. Having my colleagues take part in a protest.
So I get there but the protest is over because they have arrested about 49 of them, but I thought that I was a citizen in good standing. I could go there and use my name to act as surety to get bail. I met a young woman whose son had also been taken in there and I thought that having hosted you, the Police in the past, I have some sort of currency, at the very least to see where they had kept these people.”
However, that did not work as she was not allowed to.
Following the police’s refusal, Bridget stated that she stood outside the police station and was later approached by one individual she believes is a citizen journalist. While engaging the man she identified as George for a Twitter space on the protest, she was ‘attacked’ by an officer.
She narrated: “So I stood outside and then a gentleman approached me, a gentleman called George and he and I are going to sue the Police officer who attacked me in the coming weeks. He approaches me with a phone and asks me to join a Twitter space on the #OccupyJulorBiHouse and I said why not, to tell him why I was there. So I was on there talking about my frustration, what I want to see changed and I don’t want a situation where I’ll talk about journalist’s condition of service and I will be silenced or a politician will say, okay, we don’t like this presenter. I have been a victim of that, where a politician will say take her out. I really want those things to stop. So while I was on there, on my blind side, this guy charges at us. And I have to honest and tell you. At the time when it happened, I thought they were grabbing the guys around me because I was wondering what wrong could I have possibly done for anyone to do this. At the time, I didn’t know who he was, but he was maybe a citizen journalist, but he was acting more like a journalist.”
She continued: “So while I was on there, talking, that was when the policeman charged at us. He was in plain clothes. Now we have identified him, but on that day, he wasn’t in uniform.”
Bridget noted that she was not aware that she was the one the police officer came for.
“So I was completely blindsided, no idea that I was the one who was under attack until I saw the video of them pushing. So the guy holds on to my bag and I was also being pushed along. I thought, what could I have done. So in pulling, they ripped by shirt and my stomach was bare. Fortunately there was another guy who gave me a shawl to wrap around my waist.”
According to her, she believes she was being pushed to prevent the public from witnessing further assault she would be subjected to.
“The reason he was pushing me was very simple. When they push you inside, like the camera captured, they beat you up and they beat the gentleman up. He got cuts behind him.
I think when he got to the gate, the YK Mensah guy knew who I was so I’m sure that’s why he relaxed a bit. Cos he would have pulled me in further in but he relaxed,” she said.
Meanwhile, Bridget Otoo has announced plans to file a class action suit against the said officer who allegedly assaulted her.