The Ghana Police Service has refuted claims made by the Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, that senior police officials, including the Accra Regional Police Commander, CID Director-General, and Inspector-General of Police (IGP), stated that the arrest of three individuals with firearms in Ofaakor was directed by higher authorities.
In a statement, the police revealed that they had received a video in which Asiedu Nketia asserted that certain senior officers informed him the arrest was ordered from above.
The police have labeled Asiedu Nketia’s accusations as “false and baseless,” emphasizing that the arrest was a straightforward enforcement of the law with no external influence.
According to the police, the suspects were detained at the Electoral Commission offices in Ofaakor, found in possession of a Pump Action gun and ammunition.
The police also clarified that none of the senior officers mentioned by Asiedu Nketia had made any such statements.
Addressing the media after the release of the NDC’s parliamentary candidate for Awutu Senya East, Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor, from police custody, Asiedu Nketia cautioned the police and security agencies to be vigilant ahead of the 2024 elections, insisting that no laws should be used to intimidate citizens.
Find below the statement
The attention of the Ghana Police Service has been drawn to a video in which Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia is heard claiming that the Accra Regional Police Commander, the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Inspector-General of Police had indicated to him that the arrest of some three persons for possession of firearms at Ofaakor in the Awutu Senya East Constituency was based on an order from above.
We would like to categorically state that the claims are false and without any bases. None of the officers mentioned in the video has at any point in time made any such pronouncement.
We wish to emphasize that all three suspects were arrested when a Pump Action gun with four rounds of ammunition was found in their vehicle at the offices of the Electoral Commission at Ofaakor in the Awutu Senya East constituency of the Central region. They have subsequently been cautioned and granted bail.