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“They deflated all the tyres,” he recalled. The students soon discovered that their buses had been deliberately immobilized. With their means of transport gone, the young demonstrators were left stranded — and what followed was a violent confrontation.
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The streets of Accra were filled with excitement on February 24, 1966.
News had spread that Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, had been overthrown in a military coup while he was away in China.
For students at the University of Ghana, Legon, the moment was one to celebrate.
Among them was a young Albert, then a university student who would years later become Osabarima Enyinɛ Asiedu Okoo Ababio III, the Chief of Larteh and Benkumhene of the Akuapim Traditional Area.
He and other students joined the rush into town, boarding buses to demonstrate and celebrate the fall of the Nkrumah government.
But what began as a jubilant outing would end with students stranded in Accra, attacked by security personnel and forced to make the long journey back to Legon on foot.
Recalling the events in an interview with Kafui Dey, Osabarima Ababio III said the students initially had little reason to suspect that anything was wrong.
They were allowed to pass through by soldiers and police officers.
The real trouble, however, began while they were in town.
“They deflated all the tyres,” he recalled.
The students soon discovered that their buses had been deliberately immobilized.
With their means of transport gone, the young demonstrators were left stranded — and what followed was a violent confrontation.
Soldiers and police descended on the students, beating them in what the chief remembers as one of the most frightening experiences of his youth.
For decades, the details of the attack have remained deeply personal.
When asked what exactly happened to him during the assault, the traditional ruler simply replied: “I won’t tell you.”
But he revealed the consequence of the ambush.
He had to walk all the way from Accra to Legon.
For the young university student, the experience was enough to change his attitude towards demonstrations permanently.
Even after returning to campus, where Legon students would stage protests on several occasions, he stayed away.
“I never took part in one again,” he said.
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