They were at the wrong place at the wrong time – GAF reacts to assault on ‘innocent’ civilians at Ashaiman

• Mar 8, 2023

The Ghana Armed Forces has described as regrettable the assault meted on some civilians during a swoop at Ashaiman on Tuesday, March 7, 2023.

In a statement signed by the Director General of Public Relations, Brigadier General E. Aggrey-Quashie, the Armed Forces empahsised that the operation was not targeted at innocent persons but rather to apprehend persons responsible for the heinous murder of a young officer.

“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. GAF however 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,” the statement said in part.

Videos of the military operation shared on social media showed various incidents of assault meted out on some civilians and has since attracted criticism against the military.

According to the statement, the operation on Tuesday was sanctioned by the military high command to specifically arrest the perpetrators of the crime and not a vengeance mission.

“Personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) on Tuesday 7 March 2023, conducted a swoop in Ashaiman and its environs in a man-hunt for some criminals, who are suspected to have stabbed and killed a young soldier (Trooper Imoro Sherrif) in the early hours of Saturday 4 March 2023, at Ashaiman-Taifa. Trooper Sherrif, who is stationed in Sunyani, was in Accra on a Course and had sought permission to visit his parents at Ashaiman where he grew up, but was found in a pool of blood in the early hours of Saturday near the Amania Hotel in Ashaiman.

“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. Following the operations at Ashaiman-Taifa and Tulaku, the military personnel picked up about 184 suspects aged between 21 and 47 years old and have since handed them over to the Military Police and subsequently to be sent to the Ghana Police Service for screening and for further action. 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 Armed Forces said.

Read the full statement below:

ghanaweb.com