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Tag: Soldiers

  • 66 Artillery Regiment investigates soldier for assaulting cabbie

    The 66 Artillery Regiment (Volta Barracks) in Ho, has commenced investigations into acts of assault by Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2), Daniel Agbenyegah on a taxi driver.

    The soldier was said to have assaulted the taxi driver physically for allegedly interrupting the work of a task force deployed for a clean-up exercise at the Ho Main Market on Monday, in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

    Lieutenant Colonel Bernard Pantoah, Commanding Officer of the Regiment told the GNA that the soldier, who was seen in a video whipping the taxi driver in the streets, acted unprofessionally and had been withdrawn from the operation to the Barracks for investigations.

    He said the Regiment had a very good relationship with the public and would not trade that for any unprofessional conduct.

    Lt. Col. Pantoah said investigations were already ongoing and that the soldier would be given “appropriate sanctions” if found culpable.

    Source: GNA

  • Lockdown: GJA condemns assault on journalists by soldiers

    The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has condemned the alleged assault of two journalists by soldiers in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions.

    The first incident is said to involve a TV Africa reporter, Samuel Adobah who was allegedly assaulted by a soldier while covering a fire incident at Olebu in the Ga Central Municipality.

    The second incident which occurred at Akrem in the Asokore Mampong Municipality in the Ashanti Region had to do with a correspondent of Deutsche Welle, Yussif Abdul Ganiyu who was assaulted by a military officer on April 5, 2020.

    The GJA in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Kofi Yeboah said it finds the assault by the soldiers as “unprofessional, brutish, barbaric and a blot on the image of a military institution held in high esteem in peacekeeping operations across the world.”

    It urged the military authorities to “fish out the culprits” for sanction in order to “redeem its image from the damage caused by the unprofessional conduct of the soldiers in question.”

    The GJA said it had already contacted military authorities about the incident and they had given the assurance to deal with the matter.

    It also called on the Police to investigate the two cases quickly to “bring the culprits to face the full rigours of the law.”

    Aside this incident, there have been some incidents of abuse in some parts of the country.

    A few weeks ago, a journalist with Kumasi based Zuria Radio was similarly attacked.

    The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah subsequently promised swift action against any officer found culpable of human rights abuse within the partial lockdown period.

    President Nana Akufo Addo, while his COVID-19 update 6 also called on security agencies enforcing the law on lockdown to refrain from human rights abuses.

     

     

    Source: citinewsroom 

  • Over 250 security personnel, Zoomlion staff embark on massive cleanup exercise

    Over 250 security personnel drawn from the Ghana Army, Navy, Police and Fire Service have teamed up with workers of Zoomlion to embark on a cleanup exercise in Accra.

    The exercise will be carried out in all other regions across the country.

    The Sanitation Ministry which is spearheading the initiative in collaboration with the various assemblies is taking advantage of the lockdown to clean, cleanse and desilt major gutters to promote good hygiene in support of the coronavirus fight.

    Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah admonished the group to clean and cleanse the various streets to the point where people can see their faces “when they look at the streets in their neighbourhoods.”

    She urged all homeowners to own bins, “we do not want to see people gathering their garbage on the ground for others to pick with their hands.”

    The Minister admonished those at home during the lockdown period to use the free time to weed around their homes and keep the environment clean.

    For those allowed to step out, the Minister urged them not to litter the streets but use the bins provided.

    “If you are caught, the full rigors of the law will be applied. Please do not litter,” she cautioned.

     

    Source: myjoyonline 

  • Security forces will ensure compliance to contain coronavirus spread – Akufo-Addo

    Government has empowered the security forces to ensure that residents of the Greater Accra and Greater Kumasi Metropolitan areas comply with the directives restricting their movement to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

    Effective 0100 hours on Monday, March 30, residents of some 40 local government jurisdictions will have their movements curtailed for two weeks, except to access essential services.

    President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who announced this on Friday, also cautioned:“Let me also reiterate that the ban on public gatherings, religious or social, is still in force.

    ” Anyone, irrespective of status, religion or ethnicity, who is found to be flouting them will be dealt with fully in accordance with law.

    “The security services have been clothed with the necessary power to enforce these measures, and I assure you that they will do so responsibly, but without fear or favour, ill-will or malice”.

    President Akufo-Addo said to accelerate the contact tracing process, and ensure curtail the spread of the virus in the shortest time, military and police personnel will be deployed to assist health authorities to expedite the process.

    He said the Government had succeeded in halting any more importations of the virus into the country and thanked those adhering to the good hygiene and social distancing protocols announced in his first broadcast.

    However, the prevailing circumstances meant that stricter measures had to be put in place to contain and halt the spread of the virus within the country, especially in Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi, which had been identified by the Ghana Health Service as the “hotspots” of the infections.

    “In doing this, we cannot afford to copy blindly, and do all the things some other well-developed countries are doing,” he stated.

    There was no one-size-fits-all approach to this pandemic he declared, explaining that the situation of the country was unique and the Government must consider that in dealing with the disease.

    It also had to meet all the six key World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines on the most effective ways of combating the pandemic.

    “Even though it may be said that the number of our infections is still, relatively, low, if we act now purposefully, we have a chance of preventing an escalation of our numbers,” he said.

    “So, effective 1 am on Monday, 30th March, some forty-eight hours from now, I have imposed, pursuant to the powers granted the President of the Republic, under the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012), restrictions on movement of persons in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), which includes Awutu Senya East), and the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area and contiguous districts, for a period of two weeks, subject to review.”

    He said it would give the Government the opportunity to try to halt the spread of the virus, and scale-up effectively contact tracing of persons who had come into contact with infected persons, test them for the virus, and, if necessary, quarantine and isolate them for treatment.

    “This, in essence, means that everyone resident in these areas must stay at home for the next two weeks. However, if you must go out, it must only be to get essential items such as food, medicine, water, undertake banking transactions, or to use public toilet facilities. But, as much as possible, stay at home.”

    He explained that during the period there shall be, no inter-city movement of vehicles and aircrafts for private or commercial purposes for the areas of the restrictive measures, except for vehicles and aircrafts providing essential services and those carrying cargo.

     

    Source: GNA

  • Soldiers who robbed Gomoa quarries used Jubilee House vehicle Police

    The soldiers and civilians who allegedly robbed some quarries at Gomoa Ojobi in the Central region last week used the official vehicle of the colonel in charge of the military at the Jubilee House.

    According to the Kasoa Divisional Commander ASP Innocent Agbanyo who led the operation that effected the arrests, the head of the military at the Jubilee House has confirmed that the vehicle belongs to him but denies sanctioning the operations.

    “When we arrested them they said they were from the Jubilee House and they were acting on intelligence and so we got in touch with their head there. In fact, the vehicle they used belongs to the Colonel in charge of the military at the Jubilee House but he says he has no knowledge of the operation and so the matter has been handed over to the police headquarters,” ASP Agbanyo told Starrfm.com.gh Monday.

    He said the matter has been taken over by the police headquarters and the civilian suspects are in custody while the military police is detaining the military suspects.

    Another highly placed Police source told Starrfm.com.gh that the matter is being taken seriously by the police since the suspects claimed they were acting on behalf of the GRA.

    The various state agencies they claimed to be working for have denied knowledge of the operation, the Police source said.

    Background

    The alleged robberies occurred at five different stone quarries, namely Executive Stone Quarry at Gomoa Ojobi, Haoxin Stone Quarry at Awutu Ofaakor, Pilot Stone Quarry at Gomoa Ojobi, F/G Stone Quarry at Awutu Bosom-Abena and others.

    Vehicles used in the operations were a white Toyota Land Cruiser with registration number BA-1696-13, Black Pajaro car (No: BA 2504-14) and a Black Toyota Land Cruiser V8 (No: AS 3366-18).

    The Central Regional Police Public Relations Officer, DSP/Ms. Irene Oppong, confirmed the incident and said it occurred on March 18, 2020.

    She said the manager of the Executive Stone Quarry reported to the Ojobi District Police Command that four military men armed with guns in the accompany of five civilians on board two Toyota Land Cruisers and a Pajaro came to their quarry site and robbed them of a cash of GH¢ 10,000, (1) IBM laptop computer, (1) HP Laptop computer, System units, (1) Money counting machine, (1) receipt printer and (2) security camera decoders, all valued at about GH¢20,000.

    DSP Oppong said a team of police personnel from Millennium City Divisional Police Command and a team from the Kasoa Divisional Police Command pursued them until eventually catching up with them at Awutu Ofaakor near Kasoa where they were arrested.

    The management of the affected quarries are writing their statements at the Millennium Divisional Police Command.

    An amount of GH¢27,810 was retrieved from the suspects after they had been searched.

    A fortnight ago, one of the quarries was robbed and their engineers killed and a worker injured.

    The Customer Relations Officer for one of the companies, HaoXin Stone Quarry at Awutu Ofaakor, Frederick Denyo, said the company lost GH¢55,000 to the robbers.

     

    Source: Starrfm.com.gh

  • Israeli soldiers duped by ‘fake women’ phone ruse

    Dozens of Israeli soldiers have had their smartphones hacked by the Hamas militant group posing as women seeking attention, Israel’s military says.

    A spokesman said the soldiers were sent fake photos of young females and lured into downloading an app without knowing it could access their handsets.

    He said there was no “significant breach of information” before the scam was foiled.

    Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Israel view each other as mortal enemies.

    It is the third such attempt in recent years by Hamas to infiltrate Israeli soldiers’ phones, but was the most sophisticated yet, according to Lt Col Jonathan Conricus.

    “We see that they’re of course learning and upping their game,” he said.

    Col Conricus said the hackers had masqueraded as young women with imperfect Hebrew, claiming to be immigrants or to have visual or hearing impairments, in order to appear convincing.

    After striking up friendships, the “women” would send links which they said would enable them to exchange photos, but which in reality caused the soldiers to download malware – programmes that can attack smartphones or computer devices.

    Once the link was opened, the programme would install a virus which would give the hacker access to the phone’s data, including location, pictures and contacts.

    It could also remotely manipulate the phone, using it to take photos and recordings without the owner’s knowledge.

    Col Conricus said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had uncovered the plot several months ago but had let it continue under surveillance until they shut it down.

    The IDF has previously warned soldiers about the need for vigilance when using smartphones and issued guidelines to try to prevent hacking attempts.

    Israel and Hamas are in a permanent state of conflict and both are engaged in intelligence gathering against one another as part of their ongoing hostilities.

    Source: BBC

  • Just In: Military invades Western Togoland secessionist training camp; arrests 20 trainees

    A special operation by the military has swooped 20 persons at an illegal training camp located at Kpevedue and Fievue, an isolated twin community on the Ghana-Togo border in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region.

    The arrested persons aged between 20 and 30 included one female and 19 males, who were from different locations across the country.

    The leader absconded upon sensing danger when the military team invaded the camp at about 3:00 am on Monday.

    According to the military, the camp is believed to be operated by the secession group, Homeland Study Group Foundation, a group fighting for the independence of the then Western Togoland from Ghana.

    Upon interrogation, the arrested persons confessed they were deceived to be enlisted into the Military and charged an entrance fee of GhC800.00, only to be brought to the said location for training.

    The military believes the mind behind the camp and training of these people might have some military background considering the sighting and set up of the camp.

    Source: mynewsghana.net

  • Ghana Armed Forces commences 2019/20 enlistment exercise

    The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has commenced the 2019/ 2020 enlistment process for Regular Career and Short Service Commission Officers.

    The scratch cards for the online application are on sale across the country at designated Ghana Post offices which sells for ¢50.

    Read: Akufo-Addo appoints second female Brigadier General of the Ghana Armed Forces

    The portal for the online application has been activated hence interested persons can log on to www.gafrecruitment.com to apply. The closing date for the online submission is December 17, 2019.

    GAF wishes to remind the general public that GAF does not employ middlemen or charge fees for enlistment.

    “The public is, therefore, strongly advised to desist from paying monies to any person(s) who present themselves as agents or middlemen with the promise to help potential applicants join the GAF,” a statement from the Forces said.

    Read: Akufo-Addo hands over 140 vehicles to Ghana Armed Forces

    Ghana Armed Forces further stated that “individuals who present themselves as middlemen, intermediaries or agents demanding payment in order to assist any candidate(s) should be reported to the nearest Military Installation or Police station.”

    Interested persons are to refer to the dailies and the GAF website for more information regarding the enlistment process.