The National Democratic Congress’ Parliamentary Candidate for Garu Constituency, Dr. Thomas Anaba, has condemned the statement released by the National Security Ministry regarding the military brutality that occurred in the Garu district.
Over the weekend, some residents of the Garu District in the Upper East Region were brutalised by military operatives following an alleged attack on a National Security vehicle by irate youth from the district. In response to this incident, the National Security Ministry released a press statement explaining the actions of the military. According to portions of the statement, “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 gunshots 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 it 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.”
Speaking on the Daybreak Upper East show, Dr. Anaba described the military statement as false. He stated, “The car was never shot from where they took it to the police station; the car was shot in front of the police station, and those people who brought the car were still there with them when the car was shot. Neither the police nor the people who were standing there knew those who shot the car. So the minister is not telling the truth. You took the suspects to the police station; you were waiting for them to open the car to see all that was in the car because you suspected them. You didn’t trust that they were national security operatives simply because, do you remember what happened in Bawku with Nambe? National Security operatives, fully geared in bulletproof armour, were going around shooting people. Who will trust national security until they really see confirmation that they are national security? Those who took the car to the police station never shot the car; they were standing there when the guys were shooting at the car.”
Dr. Anaba suggested that the best way to apprehend criminals is to involve the community in the process rather than subjecting them to such inhumane treatment. He said, “If you think that you’re conducting security investigations to apprehend terrorists, involve the people. And if you want to arrest criminals in Garu, involve local security experts to go in and find them and help you arrest them.”
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Samuel Adagom|Ghana
