The commander of the Second Batallion of Infantry based at Takoradi, Lt. Col. Ayitor, has protested against the police decision to prosecute only the soldiers who have been implicated in the money extortion case at Tarkwa and leave their civilian counterparts to go scot free.

He told the Chronicle in Takoradi last Wednesday that the civilians who his men allegedly extorted the monies from in the Tarkwa area, were into wee peddling which is an illegal business, so the police should have arrested them also and prepared them for court alongside his men for the truth of the matter to come out.

"These civilians must be brought into the case so that the whole story would be complete because they are at the centre of the whole problem" Ayitor told the Chronicle.

He however made it clear that his call for the roping in of the civilians who he suspected as wee peddlers does not, in any way, mean that he supports the behaviour of his subordinates if investigation proves that they did extort the money from the alleged peddlers.

He said already the two soldiers from his outfit has been placed in the military guardroom, pending the outcome of the investigation being carried into the case by the Defence Intelligence (DI) which moved to Tarkwa immediately the story broke out.

According to him, the other two airforce soldiers who have been implicated alongside his men have also been placed in the military guard room by the command of the unit, pending the outcome of the DI investigations.

Lt. Col. Ayitor further told the Chronicle that if the DI comes out with a report that the soldiers indeed extorted money from the alleged wee peddlers, the necessary disciplinary action as stated in the Ghana Armed Forces regulations would be meted out to them.

When asked how long it would take the DI to present its findings and recommendations, Ayitor said barring any last minute hinge, the final report should be ready within the next three or four days.

Meanwhile a police source contacted in Sekondi has also told the Chronicle that the police are investigating a case of extortion against the soldiers.The police have no idea of the wee peddling case as alleged by Ayitor.

According to the source the police are in the process of taking statements from the soldiers at their respective guardrooms so it is incumbent upon the suspects to mention the alleged wee peddlers in their statement and then lead the police to conduct investigations into the case.

The source further said even if the soldiers should mention the people they allegedly extorted the money from as wee peddlers, they would have to provide evidence or exhibit of the substance which would be sent to the laboratory for examination before proceeding to arrange the peddlers before court if the lab investigation proves that the substance is indeed 'wee'.

Last Tuesday the Chronicle carried a back page report which alleged that four soldiers from both the airforce base and the 2 BN all in Takoradi, extorted a total of 17.5 million cedis from a small scale miner in the Tarkwa area whilst on patrol duties.