Over 50 residents in Garu have been admitted to a health facility following an alleged assault by military personnel in the Upper East Region.
The National Security Ministry clarified that the soldiers were dispatched to the town for a special operation but encountered hostility from some agitated community members.
The operation, scheduled for October 24, 2023, faced strong resistance from the Garu youth when they confronted the security personnel, armed with AK-47 and rifle guns.
According to the Ministry of National Security, on Tuesday, October 24, 2023, an irate youth group armed with AK 47 rifles, machetes and other weapons besieged a team of five counter-terrorism intelligence officers deployed by the Ministry of National Security to Garu, in the Upper East Region, on a critical, special operation.
Despite initial attempts to introduce themselves as National Security personnel, the irate youth group proceeded to attack the officers by firing multiple gunshots at a black Toyota Land Cruiser in which the officers were seated.
Following an escalation of the attacks on their vehicle, the officers drove to seek refuge at the Garu Police Station. The irate youth, subsequently, pursued the officers, encircled the police station and fired multiple shots at same with the intention of killing the officers.
The Ministry of National Security and the Ghana Armed Forces, on Saturday, October 28, 2023, conducted a joint operation in Garu to seize weapons used by the perpetrators of the attack on the National Security personnel.
According to the ministry, a number of the perpetrators have also been arrested.
But Assembly Member for the Garu-Natinga Electoral Area, Bartolomeo Asore Azumbil, says anyone that the military personnel came across was attacked, including his six-year-old son.
“The military came in the early hours, around 2am [on Saturday], and attacked the heart of the town. Everybody they came across was attacked and rendered several people with various degrees of injuries. About fifty-three people have been hospitalized, and I went around the various hospitals and gathered information about fifty-three hospitalizations.”
“Those who have been treated and discharged are undisclosed, and some did not even go to the hospital. Also, they came to my house three times, woke up my six-year-old son, beat him up, and went and broke my brother’s room, collecting some money and mobile phones before leaving,” he is quoted to have said by Citinews.
Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, has described the alleged assault as “barbaric.”
“If the incident is a retaliation by the soldiers, this will be most unfortunate and unacceptable in today’s Ghana and he have to get to the bottom of the matter and hold the military personnel involved in this dastard act accountable,” he stated in a press statement.
Also, Members of Parliament for the Garu and Tempane constituencies have condemned the alleged military assault.
Albert Alalzuuga Akuka and Lydia Akanvariba Adakudugu, respectively, in a joint press statement condemned the alleged actions of the military and demanded “a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their actions.”