Member of Parliament for Afram Plains North Constituency Betty Krosbi Nana Afua Mensah is calling on the police to come clear on the whereabouts of some nine persons ‘kidnapped’ by some uniformed security personnel on Saturday, April 27.
According to the MP, some men in police and military uniforms were seen on Saturday within some Island communities at Afram Plains firing gunshots and scaring residents away.
The MP, who stated this in a press release on Monday, said the uniformed men who were onboard speed boats also took away some nine persons whose whereabouts are unknown.
The incident, which occurred at Edrakpota, one of the communities on the Didja Island, also caused some children in the area to run for their lives upon hearing gunshots fired by the uniformed men.
According to the Afram Plains North MP, seven of the children who run for their lives have since not been found.
She added that the situation has created a state of anxiety in the affected communities as parents are worried about the whereabouts of their children.
“The action by the uniformed security men created fear and panic causing women and children to run into the bush for cover.
“The action by the uniformed men can only be described as kidnapping,” she said.
Madam Mensah said despite efforts to find from the police in Afram Plains what necessitated the incident and the arrest of the nine persons, there has been no information from them regarding what led to the incident, stating that the Eastern Regional Police Command said it had no knowledge of any such operation.
“No explanation was offered for the act and no one knows who ordered the arrest since contact with the Afram Plains police and Abotiase police have proven futile.
“My effort as the MP for the area to seek answers from the Police has yielded no result,” she noted.
But speaking on Midday Live on TV3 on Monday, District Chief Executive (DCE) for Kwahu Afram Plains North Samuel Kena said the exercise was conducted by the anti-human trafficking unit of the Ghana Police Service from the Command in Koforidua and that it was not an illegal exercise.
He said the nine persons purported to have been kidnapped were arrested as suspects who allow children engage in illegal fishing activities and other illegal activities.
“The operation was aimed at rescuing all the children engaged in illegal fishing activities…The parents who were supposed to be using these children who were arrested for further investigations.”
However, the Afram Plains MP, Betty Krosby Nana Afuah Mensah, has charged the Eastern Regional Police Command and the police administration in general to ensure that the ‘missing’ persons are returned to their respective families.
“May I use this opportunity to appeal to the Police High Command both at the Eastern Regional and National levels to intervene as a matter of urgency to find and relocate the missing children with their parents. The nine residents (men) arrested should be released with immediate effect.
“I also demand immediate answers as to who ordered the unprofessional arrest of the nine residents and for what reasons or offence,” she stated.
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