31 suspected Western Togoland secessionists slapped with five charges

Some thirty-one persons believed to be part of the secessionist group that orchestrated the chaos in the Volta Region have been slapped with five charges at an Accra Circuit Court, myjoyonline reports.

The thirty-one suspects were arraigned in court today, September, 28, 2020 with charges of conspiracy to commit crime which encompasses attending meetings of a prohibited organization, participating in a campaign of a prohibited organization and rioting with weapons.

The website reports that the suspects pleaded not guilty but their pleas were rejected by ASP Sylvester Asare who is the state prosecutor.

ASP Asare disclosed to the court that personnel from the Bureau of National Investigations have been dispatched to the region to conduct further investigation into Friday’s insurgency and operations of the group.

The thirty-one were arrested on Friday after two police posts were overrun by a ‘terrorist’ group which succeeded in kidnapping three police officers.

The group, in what appears to be coordinated attacks on parts of the Volta Region blocked major entry points to the region.

Government has condemned the attacks and promised to deal with the culprits involved.

Information Minister Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed at a press conference on Sunday that government has identified the financiers of the group and will deal with them.

He urged Ghanaians to be cautious and circumspect with their commentaries on the issue.

“Let me give a head-on response to that “first if all it is no true that government intends to send soldiers to intimidate people in these areas. Our borders are closed, because of our battle with COVID. We sent troops across the country, there were initial complaints by our political opponents in particular that they were not comfortable with that and they interpreted it as an attack on Voltarians. It was proven to be a flat-out untruth.”

He explained “what had happened on Friday dawn is not the first time we have seen this group go on this claim that there is an old contract that allows them to be independent and seek to express it in one way or the other, and we don’t even want to believe that there are any political groups behind it. We are dealing with it as a purely criminal act, pure infringements on the law of this country and are proceeding to treat the persons who are behind it accordingly.”

On the financiers of the group, Mr Nkrumah said “do we know where thee persons are getting their support or their funding from? Yes, we know where their funding is coming from and the various agencies are moving in as part of this comprehensive plan to deal with this whole phenomenon.”