6 radio stations "attack" firefighters after an April Fool's joke

General News of Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Source: ghanaiantimes.com.gh

2019-04-03

About six members of the Nkoranza Fire Department, in the Bono-Est area, stormed Dero FM, a local radio station, and physically badaulted seven station personnel.

Staff reportedly vandalized studio equipment, including microphones and a consul.

The attack follows a so-called "April joke" about an accident in Donkro-Nkwanta, a town in South Nkoranza municipality.

In an interview with the program manager of the station, Francis Kwame Boateng, the morning show host, said the station had received an SOS call from a Donkro-Nkwanta resident informing them of a road accident requiring rescue. firefighters team to save the victims.

He added that a colleague from the station had quickly called the fire departments to inform them of this car accident.

After receiving the message, the staff members rushed to the scene to realize that they had been misled during a wild goose hunting chase.

This made them furious and they stormed the FM station, hitting their staff and destroying everything in sight.

When he was contacted by the Nkoranza fire brigade, Divisional Officer (OP) III, Williams Oppong, confirmed the story, but soon added that the problem had been solved amicably.

However, Dero FM's program manager denied this claim, saying it was a simple meeting between the two parties at the municipal police command.

Boateng said the station's management did not take the matter lightly, saying that the station's owner, Major Derrick Oduro, Deputy Defense Minister and Member of Parliament for Nkoranza North, had addressed the issue.

For his part, Chief Superintendent William Gyamfi, Nkoranza, commander of the municipal police, confirmed the story, but declined further comment on the subject.