What was supposed to be a normal welcome training for recruits of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, GRA at Kpetoe, in the Agotime-Ziope District of the Volta Region had a bizarre ending last Saturday.

Investigations by DAILY GUIDE indicate that one of the recruits, 35-year-old Alex Aidoo lost his life as a result of what eyewitnesses described as a “life threatening” welcome exercise. He is said to have collapsed and died at the entrance of the CEPS Academy and Training School after enduring about two hours drill which covered a kilometres’ journey.

They alleged that the recruits were shoved, lashed and heckled as they carried their luggage on their heads.

Those whose luggage were considered by the instructors as light were given additional weight, including cement blocks and cements.

The welcome exercise is an age old ritual at the training school where new recruits are met at a distance from the school by their instructors for an endurance drill.

During this exercise, the recruits are usually instructed to hop, jump, run and perform other tactical activities with their luggage as a test of their endurance and to prepare them for the real training itself.

The ritual is also used to give recruits the opportunity to decide whether they want to continue the training or not. This activity often attracts residents who line up along the streets to watch the recruits.

Last Saturday’s exercise, eyewitnesses claimed was out of the ordinary as it recorded a lot of excesses including beating and maltreatment.

These drew a lot of crowd on the streets, some of who took footages with their phones.

The eyewitnesses who spoke on anonymity noted that this was the first time they had seen that kind of exercise.

Kordzo (not his real name) said, “We have been witnessing this welcome exercises, but this one was too much and too dangerous…I was afraid for the recruits.”

Another eyewitness, Aku (not her real name) who was furious described the exercise as sheer wickedness rather than training: “How can you torture a fellow human being and refer to that as training? I don’t think military training is like this.”

The Commandant of the CEPS Academy and Training School in Kpetoe, Isaac Kofi Tofah confirmed the death of the recruit but denied that the exercise was life threatening as being purported by eyewitnesses.

He added that the deceased is just one out of 33 men recruited as drivers who were brought in last Saturday to undergo the two-week training. Before the exercise, recruits who believed they could not endure the training were given the opportunity to opt out, which one did, leaving 32 who endured the training, except the deceased who unfortunately lost his life.

He explained that only applicants who passed medical examinations were brought to the training school. More so the deceased, Alex Aidoo, during the drill could not take it and so was asked to rest.

As he was resting, his colleagues realized he was acting wired and so the medical team gave him first aid and conveyed him to the Volta Regional Hospital in Ho.

Unfortunately, he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Mr. Toffah therefore, noted that the exercise could not have been the cause of death, but rather a peculiar health problem. That notwithstanding, investigations have started, and an autopsy report is expected.

Narrating the ordeal, an eyewitness, Kekeli (not his real name) speaking on Ho based US FM said, “The recruits were instructed to remove their shirts and roll on the hot asphalted road. Those of them who resisted were flogged with logs to comply.”

He explained that the recruits were met at a bridge (about a kilometer from the school) around 2:30pm last Saturday where the drill started until 4:30 pm when they reached the entrance of the school. Recruits were refused water and rest, although they appeared visibly weak and exhausted by the drill. Those who attempted resting were “lashed and forced to continue” Kekeli narrated.

The deceased, after the about two hours drill, collapsed with his luggage in front of the training school as he could not take the alleged excesses of the drill. The medical team attended to him, and he was conveyed to the Regional Hospital in Ho where he was pronounced dead on arrival.