An Eye Witness Account of Demonstration outside the National Assembly building

Demonstration outside the National Assembly building

EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNTS

After spending over 40 years in the United Kingdom, one bystander who had returned to his homeland just five years before, was observing the crowd as it gathered outside the National Assembly on Tuesday this week. When the riot police ordered the crowd to disperse he was caught in the middle.

Immediately after the order to disperse was given, the police fired rubber bullets and he was shot in both legs. He was then approached by the police and asked to leave. He replied that he couldn’t because he was somewhat handicapped. Without further ado, the officer hit him in the knee. Unbeknown to the police the gentleman had just returned from Singapore two weeks ago where he had undergone complete knee replacement surgery on both knees.

Somehow he managed to drive himself to hospital by which time his knee had swollen enormously. The health authorities were so concerned that he had sustained serious damage to his knee that he was kept under observation for over 4 hours.

Luckily he had not.

An elderly lady was sprayed with tear gas, whilst going about her legitimate business. She had come to pay her phone bill at Cable & Wireless. After the shock had worn off, she recounted how she dodged the bullets and ran for cover despite a dodgy leg following a hip fracture a couple of years ago.

“I took advantage of the lull in the one-sided attack by the force by ducking and diving behind the kiosks until eventually, I took shelter in the Anglican Cathedral,” she said. She also added that, notwithstanding the fear factor, she is glad she witnessed the events firsthand because the SBC didn’t give true portrayal of what occurred.

An employee of Cable & Wireless was on his way to a meeting walking from one building to another when a tear gas canister fell nearby. He suffered the effects of the gas throughout the day.