Alleged assault of Nii Lante Vanderpuye presents early warning signs - Adib Saani

Security Analyst, Saani Adib, has condemned the attack by some unknown assailants on Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo, Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye.

He described the attack as precedent of what is likely to occur in the upcoming December 7 elections

In an interview on GhanaWeb, he noted “…assault, firing of guns and even in some cases, killing prior to our election is of the nature of the time bomb that we are sitting on. These are all early warning signals we seem to be missing.”

Mr Vanderpuye was allegedly attacked by some operatives of the National Security Secretariat when he went to the James Town Police station to secure a bail for a journalist who was arrested while working for him.

The former Sports Minister narrated that the two operatives accompanied by 10 others attacked him right in front of the police station. He was hit on the chest and then received some slaps and punches on his face.

Adib Saani, further reacting to the incident reiterated to GhanaWeb that although every election year comes with its own troubles and chaos, the attack on a legislator was a cause for worry.

He believed that other people suffered similar attacks but for fear of the perpetrators involved, they keep mute and the attackers go scot free.

“Every election year comes with its own bickering and highly charged politicking. But it appears this is becoming far too much to the extent it’s getting to the very top then you should know there is a problem. I am tempted to believe that this is something that happens almost on daily basis, however, most of it go unreported because of those persons involved.”

“But when you have at it getting serious as a legislature allegedly assaulted, then you know the problem we are facing with our democracy, is much more serious than we fathom,” the security expert told GhanaWeb.

Mr Adib thus called on government to take a critical look into such erratic behaviours by some citizens and vigilante groups since it is likely to have a dent on the country’s peace and democracy.

“…It is important we look into it because there is still a window of opportunity. We would have to as a matter of principle, as a matter of safe guarding the peace and security and integrity of the country…Look into this issue, look at the culture of impunity then, at least, that will restore a bit of repetitions of mistake.”