Vandals Demands Justice – Account of Katanga, Opko Clash

 

Ghanadailies.com have confirmed a statement from Commonwealth Hall of the University of Ghana known as Vandals are demanding justice to their fellow students whose videos was shared on social media which went viral.

The video which shows a young man who was held in one of the Rooms in Mensah Sabbah Hall threatened with cutlass, beaten and his hair was shaved with scissors.



Below is the statement from the Commonwealth Hall JCR voice of Vandals:

 

 

# Vandals demand for Justice

‘Vandals are in the media again’. Yes indeed we are. For the good or bad reasons as others usually blame us for? Let me answer you; we do not know why others all the time want to paint us black? Is it because of our name or maybe as a result of envy towards our reputable brand which is such an enormous force to reckon with? Whatsoever be it, nothing can be taken away from us because the acronym VANDAL stands for and connotes anything positive under the sun.

Now, the rundown of the whole matter. During the early hours of Monday 16th April 2018, a video went viral into circulation. The content of which is a Vandal being beaten up, his hair wickedly shaved, molested, bullied, assaulted among others by some individuals. The place of this heinous and barbaric act was no other than a room in Mensah Sarbah Hall. Vandals upon learning of the humiliating incident lodged a complaint at the Dean of Students’ Affair office including the management of our hall and then proceeded to have their brother and comrade rescued. It took the intervention of management of both halls to have the victim released.

Besides the big issue of abduction, other cruel acts were meted out to some other residents of our hall who were spotted wearing Vandal branded shirts. These are members who were just going about their usual daily activities hence plying the streets around the Legon, Akuafo and Sarbah Halls. They were beaten up and some had their phones and other valuables looted from them. Not only did it end there, some female students who happened to be at the scene were also harassed and abused.

What then is the precursor to all these uncivilly unbridled phenomena? It was said that an inter-halls debate competition was been held at Commonwealth Hall to which University Hall (Katanga) KNUST had been invited. Upon their arrival, they were hosted at Mensah Sarbah Hall which is their affiliate.

However, due to the ostensibly unending rivalry between Sarbah and Commonwealth Hall and the affiliates of their alliances, some notorious residents of Sarbah Hall ceased the occasion by either jointly collaborating with the fellows of Katanga or using them as a decoy to orchestrate such perpetrations.

We are so much displeased about these repetitive infringements all the time by fellows from other halls which always leave us on the defensive side and when we try to stand up and protect ourselves, we are rather portrayed as the bad nuts not only by our enemies but as well university authorities and even law enforcement agents.
Monday’s occurrence is not the first episode of its kind. We recall sometime in 2016 when a tertiary awards was been held at the Great Hall here in Legon and the same Fellows of Katanga happened to be on campus and were hosted by this same counterpart of theirs. During that epoch, they laid our guys who found themselves outside the confines of the hall ambush; they beat them and again snatch their phones and monies from them.

Meanwhile, when the incident was reported to the Police, they did virtually nothing about it even when one of them was apprehended and given out to them. So then we ask is it thievery, armed robbery, thuggery or ignominy of our highly cherished enviable and noble hall these guys are into or what? Because it baffles our comprehension how our fellow brothers from sister hall and universities are always bent on attacking us per the least opportunity they have.

We are by this, calling on the University Authorities to have these obdurate persons captured in the video tormenting and torturing our innocent brother as well as the occupants of the room he was kept in and any other personage involved in the scathe face the full rigorous of the law. It again surprises us how all these happen under the watch of the porters who man the entrances of Sarbah Hall and it annexes. They are indirectly in charge of security in the halls yet these evils are able to be carried out under their nose only for them to give vague account of the developments. We do not want to believe that these porters connive and condone the atrocities of these few obstinate residents.

We have also heard of a reportage in the news that some facilities were damaged in one of the annexes of Mensah Sarbah Hall. We want to draw the University and the entire country’s attention to this that there is a grand scheme of machination at stake.

We believe that those same goons were at it again to apparently present it as Vandals been after some sort of retaliation but they lie bad. We cannot be implicated and indicted.

We say this unequivocally and unwaveringly because Monday evening, we as a JRC meet and deliberated on the matter and vehemently resolved not to engage in any brawl or mayhem but to rather resort to legal, acceptable and laid down procedures and processes in order to seek a redress because we are law abiding students and citizens. Hence what has necessitated this write up.

We once again call on University Authorities to beef up surveillance and security in the various halls and the entire campus so as to forestall any further destruction and unmask the figures behind these horrific vices.

We pray our authorities to engage all stakeholders in the affairs of the JCRs especially those still practicing the traditional council system in order to find a lasting solution to this canker of clashing all the time.
Managements, hall executives, past students associations, former and current members of the various traditional councils should be met separately and further invited to have a round table discourse so as to see to the way forward for the various traditions and ameliorate upon the situation.

We call for and demand justice for our brother and all other persons who fell victims because this could happen to anybody at all. Those guys by the deeds are telling us that we are no longer safe wearing our own hall’s attire and its accompanying paraphernalia. What an anarchy, frustration and intimidation these guys seek to create?

We crave the indulgence of the entire populace to join us fight this nemesis; have justice served and resolve these occurrences once and for all.
Thank you.

Long live Vandalism, long live the Vandal City!!!

(the mouthpiece of the JCR of Vandalism)

 

 

Video Source: Radio Univers