We’re investigating ‘assault’ on Citi FM Journalist – National Security

The Ministry of National Security has said that a probe has commenced into alleged brutality against Citi FM journalists by its operatives.

“The Ministry, therefore, takes with all seriousness, the allegations of manhandling of the two journalists … The Ministry has therefore initiated investigations into the said allegations,” a statement signed by Chief Director Lieutenant Colonel Ababio Serebour (Rtd) said on Thursday, May 13.

“The Ministry of National Security wishes to assure the Public that appropriate actions shall be taken if the allegations are found to be true”.

About seven armed national security personnel in pickup trucks invaded Accra-based Citi FM premises by seven armed security officers on May 11, 2021, to arrest Zoe Abu-Baidoo, a journalist with the Accra-based media organisation.

She was accused of receiving some video files from her colleague, Caleb Kudah, who had earlier been arrested for filming vehicles on the premises of the Ministry of National Security.

The two were hurled to the National Security 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.

The release explained that Caleb had “forwarded the footages he had taken surreptitiously to Ms Zoe Abu Baidoo”.

“Upon declining an invitation for an interrogation, Ms Abu Baidoo was picked up by operatives of the Ministry,” the release explained as reasons for interrogating the two media persons.

However, the security operatives have been criticised for the improper handling of that matter.

Several Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and a section of Ghanaians have condemned the actions of the security men.

Arresting a journalist and pursuing another into a newsroom with seven heavily armed security officers is a classic feature of a dictatorship. It is an embarrassment for Ghana to project itself this way to the world, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has indicated.

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 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 added.

The development has split heads with the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA expressing different opinions.

While the GJA President, Affail Monney, has faulted the journalist for taking videos at the facility, the General Secretary of GJA,  Kofi Yeboah, believes no ethics was breached because it was in the interest of the public.

“Insofar as the public/national interest was at stake (as evidenced in his narrative), he was firmly within the bounds of journalism ethics, including Article 13 of the GJA Code of Ethics,” Mr Yeboah said in a post on Facebook.