Following the death of a young military soldier known as Trooper Imoro Sherrif and the subsequent military raid at Ashaiman in Accra on Tuesday, a number of celebrities and members of the general public have resorted to social media to vent their disapproval.
According to reports, some unidentified assailants stabbed Trooper Imoro Sherrif to death at Ashaiman, prompting the military to storm the neighbourhood and brutalize locals.
“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 Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) said in a statement while adding that they picked up about 184 suspects aged between 21 and 47 years old.
The statement claims that these people have now been turned over to the Military Police.
According to Kwaku Amankwa Manu, the deputy minister of defence, the government would not apologise for the deployment of armed military personnel in Ashaiman.
He asserts that although the government expresses regret for the alleged acts of violence committed against civilians during the operation, it is not within their purview to express regret for the operation itself, which some have criticized as being illegal.
“I think that it is only proper that we admit when there are excesses and in operations of this nature, you may get one or two people who may get carried away and so I mean if decent, innocent residents of Ashaiman were caught up in these operations, I, in my capacity as the deputy Defense Minister will want to apologize for that. That, of course, we will apologize, but my brother, we are not going to apologize for the operation,”
The incident has drawn reactions from the general public, some of whom have denounced the action while others have vehemently defended the military.
Here are some responses:
