The DCE for Garu in the Upper East Region, Musah Osman has expressed grave concerns about the actions of the military within the Garu township.
Speaking to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, Mr. Osman said, “It is true that the military brutalised some people in the Garu township. They started their operations in the very early hours of the day, up until around 6 a.m. It left a lot of people seriously injured. I don’t know how to describe that kind of brutality or beating, but I know it was inhumane to see your brothers suffer that kind of beating right in front of us. The military just refused to listen to us—myself and the DCE for Tempane—until they finished what they had to do.”
After the military operation, Mr. Osman indicated that he had to immediately support other residents in the transportation of injured residents to seek healthcare, adding that “one person was even in a coma.”
The DCE for Garu explained that District Security Councils for both Tempane and Garu were blindsided by the horrific events. He explained that the norm is for DISEC to collaborate with all security agencies to execute all operations, and for this to happen, DISEC must be in the loop, something that didn’t happen for this operation.
“It is the norm that they would liaise with us to have the needed security interventions, but DISEC was completely left out. I am chairman of DISEC, and I didn’t have any information on this operation. For my officers too, I have spoken to them, and again, nobody had any idea or any information regarding this information,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Security has seemingly released a statement in support of the military operation.
Read the full statement below:
On Tuesday, October 24, 2023 an irate youth group armed with AK 47 rifles, machetes and other weapons besieged a team of five counter-terrorism intelligence officers deployed by the Ministry of National Security to Garu, in the Upper East Region, on a critical, special operation.
Despite initial attempts to introduce themselves as National Security personnel, the irate youth group proceeded to attack the officers by firing multiple gun shots at a black Toyota Land Cruiser in which the officers were seated.
Following an escalation of the attacks on their vehicle, the officers drove to seek refuge at the Garu Police Station. The irate youth, subsequently, pursued the officers, encircled the police station and fired multiple shots at same with the intention of killing the officers. The timely intervention of the Ghana Armed Forces enabled the safe evacuation of the National Security personnel from the Garu Police Station.
Further to the aforesaid development, the Ministry of National Security and the Ghana Armed Forces, on Saturday, October 28, 2023, conducted a joint operation in Garu to seize weapons used by the perpetrators of the attack on the National Security personnel. A number of the perpetrators have also been arrested.
The Ministry of National Security deems the attack on the security personnel at a police station highly unacceptable, and strongly condemns acts aimed at intimidating and harming officials of State Security and Intelligence Agencies, and impeding them from effectively executing their mandate to safeguard the peace and stability of Ghana.
Whereas the Ministry of National Security works to promote active citizen participation in safeguarding the peace and stability of our dear nation, deliberate acts that seek to jeopardise the lives of personnel of State Security and Intelligence Agencies will not be
countenanced.
The Ministry owes it a duty to protect personnel of State Security and Intelligence Agencies who have sworn an oath to, at all times, defend the people and the territorial integrity of Ghana against all forms of threats.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana