National Security sacks 4 officers over Caleb Kudah assault
The Ministry of National Security has sacked four operatives over the assault of Citi FM journalist Caleb Kudah.
Director of Operations, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Agyeman, and three police officers cease to be national security officers.
While Lieutenant Agyeman is to report to the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), three cops are to present themselves to the Ghana Police Service for further investigations.
This was contained in a statement released by the Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah.
In the release, the minister admitted that the operatives erred in handling the matter after preliminary investigations by a committee.
“The Committee [that investigated the case] established that the conduct of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Agyeman (Director of Operations) and some police officers at the Ministry on the said day was inappropriate and contravened the Ministry’s standard operating procedures,” Mr Kan-Dapaah said.
“The secondment of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Agyeman (Director of Operations) at the Ministry has been reversed. The officer is to report to the Chief of Defence for further investigations and appropriate action,” he added in the statement.
“The three (3) police officers involved have been withdrawn and are to report to the Ghana Police Service for investigation and disciplinary action,” a statement from the Ministry of National Security and signed by the sector minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah stated.
The statement further explained that Caleb’s entry into the National Security Ministry was unlawful.
The genesis of the problem
On May 11, 2021, national security operatives arrested Citi FM journalist Caleb Kudah for filming within the premises of a national security facility designated as a restricted security zone.
Following the arrest, about seven armed national security personnel in pickup trucks invaded Accra-based Citi FM premises to arrest Zoe Abu-Baidoo, a journalist with the Accra-based media organisation with whom Caleb had shared the said video.
The two were then escorted to the National Security office for interrogation, after which they were released.
However, Caleb explained that he was assaulted mercilessly by several men wielding guns while he was handcuffed.
“They seized my phone and pushed me, and I sat on the chair. They [National Security operatives] slapped me from the back. I was trying to appeal to them that they had beaten me enough, but they were just slapping me from the back. I’ll be talking to another one, and someone will just come and slap me from the back,” Caleb narrated in the aftermath of the incident.
Reactions after the alleged assault
Several Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and a section of Ghanaians condemned the actions of the security men.
Arresting a journalist and pursuing another with seven heavily armed security officers is a classic feature of a dictatorship, it added.
The MFWA “cannot see how the filming by a journalist of the National Security Ministry building, which is a public institution accessible to the public, can constitute a national security breach”.
“Indeed, journalists have the right to film even private property when it is the scene of the activity or is associated with an event that is of public interest to publicise”.
“Over the years, we have seen a number of incidents in which security officers have assaulted or arrested journalists for filming their operations conducted in public. This is a blatant abuse of authority and must be checked,” the MFWA noted.
Pressure group, OccupyGhana was of the opinion that an attempted murder charge would be appropriate for national security operatives found to have assaulted Citi FM journalists.
Even though the National Security commenced an investigation, OccupyGhana did not think they would conduct a fair probe.
The group, who condemned the alleged brutalisation in a statement, emphasised the need for a separate body other than the National Security to investigate the matter.
“We have no faith that the National Security Ministry can provide a satisfactory investigation into the damning allegations and therefore would like to advise the government to set up an independent body of inquiry into the matter,” the statement said.
It added that the persons found culpable for such “animalistic and demonic behaviour” must be made to face the full rigours of the law.
“We are appalled and disgusted, and when proven true by an independent body, we demand that the perpetrators so named be charged with nothing less than the crime of attempted murder, tried, convicted, jailed, and dismissed from the employment of the government without any benefits,” it further directed.
Justice is perceived to be showing its face. What of the ordinary Ghanaians who suffer in the hands of the security officials without spokesperson?