GAF denies media reports on alleged arrest of soldiers

Accra, Jan. 12, GNA - The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) on Tuesday said media reports alleging that its High Command "might be on a collision course with the Ghana Police Service over a case involving some soldiers who went to arrest some alleged kidnappers" was untrue.

The GAF also stated that "assertions that the soldiers have been detained based on orders from 'above' as well as no charges have been preferred against them" was equally untrue.

A statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra signed by the Director of Public Relations, Colonel E.W.K. Nibo, said GAF had noted with concern the untruths published by the Daily Guide newspaper in its January 11, 2010 edition with a banner headline '6 Soldiers Arrested Over Kidnapping'. It said it was unfortunate that instead of the management of the newspaper cross-checking their information with the appropriate Directorate of the Armed Forces, they chose to misinform the public about the arrest of the soldiers.

The statement said to state that "the so-called suspected kidnappers were highly connected with some top gurus in the military is to malign the military in a straight forward case of misconduct by the soldiers".

The statement said on October 14, last year, seven soldiers including a female soldier were alleged to have gone to the premises of a company at East Legon in the company of a Brazilian, who is supposed to be the husband of the female soldier and assaulted the company's workers.

It said the assault took place during this illegal operation at the instance of the female soldier, Corporal Dumfeh L, to arrest some persons who allegedly defrauded her husband, the Brazilian called Paul.

The statement said following the incident, the Director of the company reported the case to the Military Police and the soldiers were arrested and detained to assist in investigations. After thorough investigations, it was realised that all the soldiers who were involved in the case had acted without authority in conducting an operation to arrest one Mr Gide, a Nigerian national contrary to laid down instructions and regulations contained in section 54 of the Armed Forces Act of 1962.

The statement said they were subsequently charged, tried and sentenced to various terms of detention ranging between 60 and 90 days and were all serving their sentences.

The Military High Command assured the public that it would not condone any unprofessional conduct by any service man or woman who involves himself or herself in an unauthorized operation or activity, adding that "Such personnel would be dealt with accordingly".

The Command also urged the media to cross check their information with the Director of Public Relations of GAF for clarification before publication to avoid "pushing falsehood down the throat of the public".