Mr Ken Agyapong, Chairman, Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior has appealed to the people of Ashaiman to remain calm in the face of the recent military brutalities in the Municipality. Following the murder of a young military officer, Trooper Imoro Sherrif in Ashaiman, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), operating on the orders of the Military High Command, conducted a dawn swoop in the Municipality on Tuesday, March 07, leading to the arrest of over 180 people. Mr Agyapong made the appeal during a fact finding visit by Members of the Committee, together with Mr Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister of Defence to the Ashaiman Municipality. During a public meeting with the victims of the March 7th Military Brutalities in Ashaiman, the Chairman expressed his condolences to the Family of the slain soldier. He also expressed his condolences to the family of the late Alhaji Mohammed Musa, a victim of the Military Brutalities in Ashaiman, who passed on after he was released. Mr Agyapong also sympathized with the injured victims of the Military Brutalities. He further appealed to the victims to exercise patience and stay calm; saying, ‘You know that I stand for the truth and nothing else, and, therefore, we are going to delve into this matter and come out with the truth,’ Mr Agyapong said. He noted that the records of evidence of military brutalities submitted by Mr Emmanuel Kumadey, the Counsel of the Victims of Military Brutalities in Ashaiman would be given the due attention by the Committee. He further advised residents of Ashaiman to be bold and expose all the bad people in their society but should not take the law into their own hands. ‘I have always defended Ashaiman, that they are good people, that is why I say that Ashaiman is my second home. If you do not know Ashaiman and you hear the way people speculate about Ashaiman, you will think that they are bad or evil people,’ he said. He cautioned that when people cover up bad people, in the end, innocent people would suffer, just like what has happened to them last week. He assured the Committee would go through the documents presented to them and that they would come up with recommendations. Mr Dominic Nitiwul, the Minister of Defence, appealed for a cordially atmosphere between the Military at Michelle Camp and Ashaiman. Mr James Agalga, the Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior also reiterated the need to calling for calm in Ashaiman, urged Ghanaians to have confidence in state institutions; saying, ‘we need the military, and the military needs us.’ Mr Ernest Henry Norgbey, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashaiman urged the victims of the Military Brutalities to stay calm and not to retaliate. Mr Emmanuel Kumadey, the Counsel for Victims of Military Brutalities in Ashaiman, who recounted the torture and maltreatment that the victims went through, appealed to the Committee to ensure that justice was done.
Source: Ghana News Agency
