Don’t rubbish military intelligence on coup plot – Former coupist warns

Captain Joel Sowu, a retired military officer, who has varied experience with coup d’états, has warned the Nana Addo-led government to deal with the alleged coup attempt on the presidency with utmost seriousness.

Captain Joel Sowu, who was arrested in 1975 for an attempted coup against the then head of state, Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, said the weapons and ammunition retrieved by the police should not be rubbished.

Using his experience as an example, Captain Sowu said “When we were arrested, the only thing they found was the ‘kafugbeng’ (pump-action gun), the one used for hunting and some cartridges and yet we were sent to court, tried and sentenced to death by firing squad but I ended up in Nsawam prison for 3 years.”

Recounting how he and his accomplice were apprehended, Captain Sowu, said even though they did not hold meetings to plot the coup, they were under military surveillance for 8 months before they were finally arrested.

“Don’t rubbish this thing like that, let us thread with caution because I can speak for the military intelligence, they know exactly what they are about. Remember strategy and tactics is our bane,” he stressed.

In an interview monitored by The Ghana Report , Captain Sowu advised that, rubbishing of evidence discovered by the military should not be entertained.

“Just chill, wait, see the evidence that will be brought then if you need to defend, defend,” he said.

Captain Sowu was part of the soldiers who overthrew  Kofi Abrefa Busia from office in the 1972 coup d’état.

Before his arrest in 1975, Captain Joel Sowu single-handedly foiled a coup d’état against the NLC.