The Ministry of National Security has denied allegations made by Yao Gomado, Member of Parliament for the Akan Constituency, accusing security operatives of intentionally killing two individuals in the line of duty.

The Ministry dismissed the claims as "grossly inaccurate and mischievously fabricated" with the aim of advancing a "parochial agenda."

The Ministry revealed that, the incident said to have triggered the said deaths was a collaboration with COCOBOD in an intelligence-led operation along the Eastern Corridor, including the Akan Constituency, in October 2023.

“The attention of the Ministry of National Security has been drawn to a press release by the Honourable Yao Gomado, Member of Parliament for the Akan Constituency, accusing operatives of the Ministry of deliberately killing two persons in his Constituency.

“The Ministry wishes to state that the account by the Member of Parliament for the Akan Constituency on the regrettable loss of the lives of the two persons is grossly inaccurate and mischievously fabricated to satisfy a parochial agenda,” a press statement from the ministry said on December 27, 2023.

The statement explained that the primary objective was to curb cocoa smuggling activities, which had led to a decrease in cocoa bean sales to Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) by local farmers.

In the press statement, the Ministry provided details of the said deaths, according to the statement on December 25, 2023, a vehicle belonging to the anti-cocoa smuggling operations team was involved in a collision with a motorcycle, resulting in the deaths of two individuals aboard the motorcycle.

The statement clarified that the incident was an accident and not a deliberate act.

“Regrettably, on December 25, 2023, one of the vehicles of the anti-cocoa smuggling operations team was involved in an accident when it collided head-on with a motorcycle carrying two persons; a development that claimed the lives of the two persons aboard the motorcycle.

“In the immediate aftermath of the accident, personnel of the Ghana Police Service arrived at the scene to commence full-scale investigations. However, some aggrieved persons in the Akan Constituency, guided by a misconception that the two deceased persons were deliberately targeted, vandalised the vehicle and set it ablaze.

“The Ministry deeply regrets the loss of the two persons and expresses its deepest condolences to their families. The Ministry, however, deems it prudent to put on record that the incident leading to the deaths of the two persons was purely accidental and not borne out of a targeted operation,” the statement added.



AM/SARA

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