Menzgold: Police avert “mass suicide” on X’mas Eve

Police say their timely intervention averted what would have been a mass suicide by Menzgold clients one of Accra’s major highways (N1 Highway) on Monday.

Police had been deployed to the headquarters of Menzgold to offer protection to property as well as persons, after customers whose funds are locked up with the firm, massed up to protest the failure of the company to pay back their funds.

But the demonstrators had another plan; to block the busy eight-lane George Walker Bush highway.

Director of Operations at the Accra Regional Police Command, Supt. Kwesi Ofori, told Joy News the angry Menzgold customers rushed onto the road to carry out their plan, defying the high-speed at which vehicles were approaching them.

“…The way and manner they rushed onto the highway the police have to tactically quickly stop the speeding vehicles if not, we would have witnessed a mass suicide on our road and we are not prepared to supervise this,” Supt. Ofori told JoyNews reporter Nancy Emefa Dzradosi.

After succeeding in warding the demonstrators off the busy highway, the police chief said he and his colleagues then engaged them “to ensure that they leave [the scene] to live and not to die.”

Thousands of customers of the gold dealership firm have for months now, are unable to access their investments after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered its closure, due to its unregulated business model.

Menzgold had earlier in the month, asked its staff to proceed on leave following increasing threats to its properties as well as staff of the company.

The December 4 statement also added that the company has been advised by the authorities to halt both online and offline trading to enable the authorities to assess the system and present a final say to the public and the company. But SEC has said its directives to the company do not in any way stop it from paying monies they had taken from the clients.

credit:myjoyonline.com