The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has revealed that the military swoop in Ashaiman on Tuesday dawn, was a sanctioned operation.
A young soldier, Trooper Imoro Sherif was reportedly stabbed and killed by unknown assailants on Saturday, March 4, 2023.
In a press statement signed by the Director General of Public Relations of GAF, the operation was to hunt for the suspected killers of the young soldier and not to avenge his death.
“GAF wishes to state categorically that the military operation, which was sanctioned by the Military High Command, was NOT to avenge the killing of the soldier but rather to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime,” the statement disclosed.
According to GAF, the swoop led to the arrest of 184 suspects who have been handed over to the Military Police and subsequently to the Ghana Police.
“During the course of the swoop, the personnel seized 29 slabs and 57 mini slabs of suspected Indian hemp and amnesia among other forms of the narcotics.
“The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) also wishes to place on record that the swoop was not targeted at innocent civilians but was an intelligence-led operation conducted on suspected hideouts of criminals and crime-prone areas in the general area,” the statement stressed.
However, it “acknowledges that regrettably some innocent persons might have been caught up in the operation and consequently suffered some distress due to the location they found themselves at the time.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Defence, Kofi Amankwa-Manu has said the operation was necessary because the “military is under attack and we cannot sit and fold our arms.”
He called on Ghanaians to protect the military institution.
According to him, should Ghanaians fail to protect the military that would be the end of the country.
Below is the full statement by GAF
