<<Print>>

Unusual night helicopter movements in the general area of the residences of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo near the Nima Police Station, and that of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Assin Central MP, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, has prompted questions about whether it is not an aerial reconnaissance of the abodes of the opposition politicians. Residents of some parts of Accra were frightened by the noise of a helicopter and its beaming lights, which for two consecutive nights appeared to be making sorties of sorts in some parts of the nation�s capital. The scare gave way to speculations when no word came from the military high command as to the reason for the night time flights. When he took his turn during an Oman FM Boiling Point programme last week, Kennedy Agyapong said he had received a text message while on the programme that a helicopter was hovering over his house. An infirmed man in his eighties next to his house, he said, was rushed to hospital for a sudden blood pressure rise, having been scared by the unusual helicopter movements and the direction of its lights into nearby houses. The MP said that was the second night of the chopper�s hovering mission, adding that he could not be scared. Since nobody in Ghana owns a helicopter and that it is the government which owns such aircraft, it stands to reason that the choppers belong to the Ghana Air Force and the operation was ordered by the National Security apparatus. The Executive Director of the think-tank, Danquah Institute, who complained about the chopper�s movements, asked whether it is a form of threat from government. �It appears that there�s a new form of threat which maybe, we should be looking at�. According to him, �Earlier this (last) week Kennedy Agyapong said that there [was] a helicopter that came to his house and threw lights in for a long time�. According to him, �two nights ago, around 9:00pm, the security people in Nana Addo�s house also mentioned a similar thing. They threw the lights in Nana�s house�, with the chopper said to be hovering around. The duration of the beaming of the helicopter�s lights on Nana�s house did not last as long as that of Kennedy Agyapong�s. While speaking on Joy FM�s news analysis programme last Saturday, he said ��I call it the �chopper threat�, wondering if it was a mere coincidence. His co-panellists, former Chief of Staff during the Rawlings presidency, Nana Ato Dadzie and Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide newspaper Kweku Baako Jr, both said it could have been a general aerial reconnaissance not targeted at any specific person. Nana Ato Dadzie said he and other people also experienced the same. �I was at a funeral yesterday and there was a lady somewhere in Accra who thought that there was this chopper going round and was directing at her house,� he said. A top General at the General Headquarters of the Ghana Armed Forces, (name withheld) has dismissed the speculations as unfounded, explaining that the helicopter movements is not intended to reconnoitre the residences of any politician but for the protection of the citizens. Explaining, he said �the helicopter is on a mission to support the Operation Calm Life security operation which is intended to track down criminals who have been setting markets alight.� The helicopter movements at night, he added, would not stop anytime soon. Strangely, Ghanaians have not been informed about any �Operation Calm Life� targeted at market arsonists.