The Minister of State in charge of National Security at the presidency, Mr Bryan Acheampong, has said the security apparatus never saw the need to classify the job recruitment operations of De-Eye group as a threat to the state after "we did all the works".

According to him, the security apparatus "assured ourselves that De-Eye group was not a vigilante group (truest form and interpretation), militia, or criminal organisation".

"Importantly, we did not classify or see their operation as a threat to the state and or government", Mr Acheampong said in a statement, adding: "Indeed, we are privy to every facet of their operations, which primarily involves soliciting young unemployed persons, writing to companies and agencies for job openings, seeking to place their young unemployed clients into employment opportunities and charging them a fee for their services".

Mr Acheampong's comments follow a recent exposé by Manasseh Azure Awuni that the group, affiliated to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), had been operating illegally at the Christiansborg Castle, Osu, since the party won power in the December 2016 polls.

In his statement, Mr Acheampong said the security apparatus was "aware that Nana Wireko, alias Choman started his company from his former secretariat at the castle, where we warned him on two occasions and arrested him, threw him out of the office and shut it down in October on our third encounter with him".

"It has not come to our notice that he'd had access to the office since. Their new office is located at Dzowulu. We are also aware that due to their extensive marketing efforts on TV, radio, website and their placement success rate, a lot of unsuspecting unemployed continued to visit the castle in search of De-Eye group.

"At NO time did we see these people conducting any training regime that we will consider a security threat.



"We were aware of their end-of-year party at the castle gardens. But no one, nobody, seeing these innocent job-seeking young men and women, can conclude that they are a vigilante group or militia. In fact, they don't pass for a school cadet.

"Those responsible for managing the castle lawn must answer why they allowed these people on their space.

"Since it's no longer a security installation, our interest ended when we determined the purpose of gathering and satisfied ourselves extensively that they pose no threats.

"You can be sure that we have the men, masked and unmasked, to suppress any threat to our peace and security if, indeed, there is one", he noted.