‘Juju prevented escape’-Western Togoland military recruit gives riveting account

On February 17, 2020, 7:48 PM

He bought a form thinking he was joining one of Ghana’s security agencies but has found himself on the wrong side of the law and faces a possible charges of treason.

If that story is to be believed, Micheal Dakpenese, one of the 21 trainees arrested in a crackdown on the Western Togoland military recruits, is ruing the day he dreamt of wearing a uniform, a beret and a shining boot.

When he discovered he has been misled, he claimed, a ritual of silence kept him quiet and with no route to escape, as threats of madness and snake bites kept him and others faithful to a cause they owed no allegiance to.

The 21-year old, a native of Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region, told Citi FM’s Eyewitness News he was naively drawn into a recruitment process he thought was genuine.

According to the recruit, they had information that “there was a meeting and they [the recruits] should come and join the meeting.”

Although Ghana’s security services never use recruitment agencies to select their men and women, Michael thought otherwise and believed it was an invitation to join a recruitment agency that would open the doors of any of the security agencies, “recruiting or helping to recruit the youth into the Ghana Armed Forces, Police Service, and some other security agencies and not the Western Togoland separatists group”.

Micheal claimed the recruits paid between GH₵600 and GH₵900 and were subsequently given a form to fill.

“We all paid the money and were subsequently directed to meet some people and were given dates to come to Dzodze. On getting to Dzodze, we were picked and taken to the training camps, ” Micheal said.

Dzodze, in the Ketu North municipality, is famous for its vibrant palm oil production—a far stretch from military combats and training.

According to Micheal, “upon realizing the deceit, they tried to escape but were threatened. “

“The threats were that you either go mad or be bitten by a snake. And this was because of the ritual performed at the entry points upon arrival. “

On Monday, personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces(GAF) arrested some 21 persons in connection with the Homeland Security Separatist group.

The suspects comprising 20 males and one female were rounded up at Kpevedui in the Volta Region, a place believed to be the training ground for the suspected members.

The suspects were arrested in the early hours of Monday by soldiers of the 66 Artillery Regiment.

The Homeland Security Separatist group has been agitating for an independent Western Togoland for a while now, a move that has incurred the wrath of the security agencies.

The Commanding Officer of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Baba Pantoah, who spoke to the media after the arrest, said, over 40 soldiers were involved in the operation.

He added that they arrived at the training camp with two crime scene investigators from the Regional Police headquarters.

“We had intelligence that between 20 and 25 recruits were currently undergoing training here. At the end of the operation, we were able to get 21 of them but about four people managed to escape, ” he explained.

The Commanding Officer said the arrested persons will be airlifted before Wednesday to Accra.

The Police in the Northern Region, in December 2019, had arrested 18 persons suspected to be members of the Western Togoland separatist movement.