After criticism from the public, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has removed a public statement it released concerning the Ashaiman swoop from social media sites. The military had officially declared that the military operation in Ashaiman on March 7—during which several innocent civilians were physically assaulted—was authorized by the military’s top command. According to the statement, the mission was not undertaken to exact revenge for the death of Trooper Imoro Sheriff, a young soldier.
The message, which sparked indignation and insults from the public, was later erased by the Ghana Armed Forces. The soldier, who lived in Ashaiman but was stationed in Sunyani and taking a course in Accra, had asked for permission to visit his parents there. However, he was discovered in a pool of blood early on Saturday, March 4, 2023, close to the Amania Hotel in Ashaiman.
According to the GAF, the Military operation in Ashaiman-Taifa and Tulaku was to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime and in the process, the Military picked up about 184suspects aged between 21 and 47 years old and have 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 narcotics. The Ghana Armed Forces wishes to put 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-probe areas in the general area. The 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,” a statement signed by Brigadier-General E. Aggrey Quashie, the Director-General, Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces said.
