Founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr Nyaho Nyaho-Tamakloe has said that the Minister of Defence Dominic Nitiwul should intervene and brief the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the clash between some civilians and Naval officers in Tema.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Monday April 15, he said “I am surprised such a statement would come from the head of the Public Relations section of the armed forces, it was totally wrong. The military is ranked on the hierarchy and if something of this nature has occurred since Friday by now the case should have been in the hands of the Police which I believe has not been done.
“The Minister of Defence, it is his responsibility to quickly report to the government that this is what has happened, and the Commander In chief, that is the President, should be reported to immediately. I believe strongly that we have people in the Ministry of Defence who would have known how to handle this particularly dangerous situation without escalating.”
Two dead after youth clashed with officers at Tema Naval Base
Two civilians were reported dead after a group of persons attacked the Tema Naval Base of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
The death of the two persons was contained in a press release by the Ghana Armed Forces on April 13 detailing the events which led to the death of the civilians.
According to the release, a crowd partaking in an ongoing festival at Tema Newtown attacked a vehicle belonging to the Eastern Naval Command of the Ghana Navy at about 7:53pm on Friday, 12 April 2024.
The statement said the crowd damaged the vehicle and wounded three of the naval personnel onboard the vehicle.
The three officers were later sent to the Tema Naval Base Medical Centre for treatment.
GAF said in the course of the confrontation, “three suspects were arrested by the naval personnel. They were subsequently handed over to the Tema Newtown District Police for further investigations.”
The statement said another mob suspected to be part of the festivities orchestrated a second attack on the naval base pelting stones and other implements. GAF noted that their intention for the attack was to release their arrested colleagues.
According to GAF, the naval base security felt “threatened” by the attack and in “order to protect the sensitive installations in the Base, warning shots were fired to repel the attack”.
GAF said the Ghana Police Service later reported that two dead persons were sent to the Tema General Hospital.
It said they are yet to ascertain the cause of the death of these two persons.
Police together with the Ghana Armed Forces have commenced investigations into the incident. The statement added that findings of the investigations would be made available in due course.
GAF commiserated with the bereaved families and urged calm to be maintained by all parties while the incident is being investigated.
However, it cautioned the youth of Tema to restrain from any further attacks on its installations or personnel else “the appropriate response” would be meted out.