Some military men allegedly brutalised some residents of Ashaiman a day after the celebration of Ghana’s independence on the morning of 7th March. 2023.
The military men stormed the area at dawn, beating residents and preventing other residents from coming out of their homes as they hid in fear of being brutalised.
The operation was in response to the murder of a twenty-two year old private soldier whose corpse was found in front of the Amania Hotel in Ashaiman in the early hours of 4th March, 2023.
Parts of Ashaiman, thus ‘Official Town’, were forced into self-curfew to protect themselves from the brutality. Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Ernest Norgbey confirmed this to Accra-based Starr FM. He called it an ‘unofficial curfew’.
Meanwhile, some residents who were able to engage with the media expressed what happened to them.
“I was in my room sleeping when I heard footsteps of people moving about and beating people. I heard knocks on my main gate and I don’t even know, how they managed to enter, they broke my door and started to beat me. They asked me if I knew who ‘Moro’. And I don’t even know him”.
“I woke up around four (4) AM to use the washroom when my brother told me there are soldiers around beating people”.
“My mother called to tell me my younger brother was being beaten. I quickly rushed out, but I didn’t see him. I was on the phone with my mom, and she said the military men came to the house and started to beat him right in front of her. She was inside, and I asked her not to come out… I found him and had to take him to the hospital.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has released a statement dated 8th March, 2023 to clarify that the operation was an attempt to fish out the killers of the young soldier.
“GAF wishes to state categorically that the military operation, which was sanctioned by the Military High Command, was NOT to avenge the killing of the soldier but rather to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime.”
The GAF went on to mention in the release that the operation was not meant to affect innocent civilians. GAF also acknowledged the brutality that some innocent civilians experienced in the course of the operation.
“The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) also wishes to place on record that the swoop was not targeted at innocent civilians but was an intelligence-led operation conducted on suspected hideouts of criminals and crime-prone areas in the general area. GAF however acknowledges that regrettably some innocent persons might have been caught up in the operation and consequently suffered some distress due to the location they found themselves at the time.”
