A Brigadier-General marshalling the partial lockdown of the country is in disbelief that a religious country like Ghana can have citizens who enjoy sharing false news.
Brigadier-General Abraham Yeboah Nsiah, who commands the Southern Command of the Armed Forces, said several videos and photos showing soldiers beating up civilians were false.
About 1,000 soldiers are patrolling the streets of Accra and Kumasi after the government imposed a two-week lockdown to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
But barely 48-hours into the operation, a section of social media was awash with videos of security forces brutalising civilians reportedly breaking lockdown rules.
Theghahareport.com could not verify the credibility of some of the videos. Voices in the video do not suggest actors speak Ghanaian languages.
Brigadier-General Abraham Yeboah Nsiah condemned the sharing of some of the videos and stated they were false.
According to him, soldiers who had been deployed to enforce the lockdown were professionals.
“I must also emphasise that some videos evolved concerning some brutalities being meted out by some soldiers to some civilians. Let me assure Ghanaians that the soldiers that we have are well trained. They are professionals. They do not brutalise.”
Brigadier General Nsiah, at a press briefing Wednesday, said he could only vouch for the authenticity of one video in which a soldier assaulted a civilian.
Brigadier Nsiah revealed the soldier had been recalled to the barracks and was no more part of the lockdown patrolling team.
“We have only one incident and that incident had nothing to do with slapping….That soldier involved presently has been withdrawn to the barracks so all the videos you are seeing are false,” he said.
Appealing to the religious beliefs of many Ghanaians, he pleaded with social media users to be circumspect in sharing fake videos.
“Most of us Ghanaians are religious, and we know that telling lies about somebody is something that God does not permit. So those who are doing it, I don’t know what your agenda is, stop it.” he pleaded when he spoke at a press briefing Wednesday.
The Brigadier General Nsiah said persons circulating those videos could discourage soldiers from carrying out their lawful duties.
