The 3 times Captain Smart has been arrested in less than 12 months

Critically analysing the style of broadcast journalist, Godsbrain Smart, famously known as Captain Smart, there is a generally popular assertion that the host of Onua Maakye on Onua FM is an unconventional journalist. And with that style, he has courted a lot of hatred, dislike, and praise, from many who follow or know the kinds of things he does. But all of these things have unfortunately gotten him on the wrong side of the law, or rather, in the estimations of many, on the wrong side of the powers that be in this country. In the last 12 hours or thereabouts, Captain Smart has again been in the news after he was picked up by the National Investigations Bureau (NIB). That brings the number of times a broadcast journalist has been arrested in less than 12 months to three. In this listicle, GhanaWeb looks at all three times, as well as the reasons that were given for those arrests. Arrested over unsavoury comments: On Thursday, December 2, 2022, the Ghana Police Service confirmed that it had arrested Captain Smart. The police stated that the host of the Onua Maakye show on Onua TV was arrested following some "unsavoury pronouncements that hinge on peace and security." "The Nima Divisional Police Command today, Thursday, December 2, 2021, arrested Blessed Godsbrain Smart, popularly known as ‘Captain Smart’, the host of the Onua TV/FM morning show in Accra. "He was arrested following some unsavoury pronouncements that hinged on peace and security. "He has been cautioned on the offence of offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace as provided under section 207 of the Criminal Act, 1960 (Act 29)," the statement signed by the Nima Divisional Police Command said. February 2022 arrest: A few months after the above, on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, a series of events led to the somewhat arrest of Captain Smart. The details of the events that led to what happened that got the journalist to spend the weekend in cells at the National Security office was made available via a 3news.com report. According to the report, everything started in the morning of that day when Captain Smart and a colleague, Eric Daniels Dadzie Copperfield (DJ GH Boy), honoured the summons of an Accra Circuit Court, right after their show in the morning. At the court, the two were slapped with charges of extortion and abetment to extortion. Officially labelled as accused persons, the two pleaded not guilty to the charges and were subsequently granted bail to the tune of GH₵50,000 with four sureties. Several other things happened in between the hours of the day, including a delay in the verification of sureties and a shuttle between the National Security Office and the police station, until Captain Smart was ‘re-arrested.’ "The court closed at 4 pm by which time the officers who had gone for verification had not returned, and so the officers took the two suspects to National Security and then to the Ministries Police Station where they were kept for an hour," the report added. And since the courts were closed and he was still at the Ministries Police Station, National Security officers fetched Captain Smart and his co-accused. Their reason was that they had orders from above to bring them back to the office of National Security. October 2022 night arrest In the late hours of Wednesday, October 19, 2022, Captain Smart was arrested by officials of the National Investigations Bureau (NIB). This was the third time he had been arrested in a year, reports said. Captain Smart is said to have been arrested while on his way home from work on Wednesday evening. “BNI (now NIB) arrested Captain Smart earlier on his way home from the office (Onua 95.1 FM / @Onua TV premises)” a post by his media house, Onua TV on their Facebook page sighted by GhanaWeb stated. The Ministry of Information had earlier accused the journalist of impugning the character of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The statement was made on the back of a broadcast made by Captain Smart on October 17, 2022, in which he accused the president of being actively involved in illegal mining, also known as galamsey activities. The ministry described the claims by Captain Smart as false and malicious, and further accused the journalist of engaging in unethical and irresponsible journalism. The government in the statement said it was referring the matter to the National Media Commission for review and adjudication. Despite the statement by the government in which a threat of legal action was issued, Captain Smart, in a subsequent edition of his programme reiterated his allegations against the president. He has since been granted bail, as has been confirmed by the management of the media house he works for. AE/BOG