Information reaching The Chronicle from the North East corner of Ghana has it that there were sporadic gunshots on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 believed to be between two detachments of police and the military.
According to eyewitnesses, as the firing assumed alarming proportions, the scary scene forced the unarmed personnel of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and civilians to run for their dear lives.
Even though information as to what led to the action by the police and their military counterparts was scanty, your authoritative paper managed to scoop a few vital reports from neutral sources.
It has it that on Wednesday October 9, 2024 at about 10:00hours, the police had a tip-off on the movement of a truck, Kia Rhino, with registration number AS 551-21, alleged to be smuggling unspecified quantity of dried cocoa beans into neighbouring Republic of Togo.
The Divisional Police Commander reportedly dispatched men to escort the said truck to the Bawku Police Station for a search to be conducted on it.
As the escort of the truck commenced and at a section of the road near Nakom-Corner, Customs Officers from Pulmakom followed and informed the police that they were interested in the content of the arrested truck.
Police reportedly asked the Customs officials to accompany them for the search.
At Pusiga, a military pickup with armed men from Polimakom, followed and allegedly blocked the truck, with the excuse that they were taking the truck back to Widana, but the police resisted and continued.
The soldiers reportedly continued obstructing the police until at the Customs Checkpoint at Missiga, where two military trucks and four armed pickups, with armed men, again blocked the police and started firing sporadically.
The escort team called for reinforcement, which arrived, but the soldiers allegedly shot at the tyre of its armoured vehicle, which was deflated.
During the intense sporadic shooting, the police were said to have resorted to releasing warning shots to defend the demobilised armoured car from any further damages.
The situation was later brought under control and the Kia truck was impounded at the Customs Checkpoint for necessary action to be taken.
Meanwhile, the police have issued a statement in connection with the incident. The following is the full statement;
On October 9, 2024, a misunderstanding ensued among personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Ghana Police Service over an intercepted consignment of smuggled cocoa bags, at the Missiga security checkpoint, at Bawku, in the Upper East Region.
We wish to state that the Ghana Police Service yesterday, October 9, 2024 intercepted the smuggled consignment based on intelligence and were in the process of escorting the truck to the Bawku Divisional Police Command, for the consignment to be handed over to COCOBOD and the culprits investigated and prosecuted by the Police, in line with established protocol with Ghana COCOBOD.
For the record, the Police recently intercepted smuggled cocoa beans on two occasions within the region and the intercepted consignments were handed over to COCOBOD, while the suspects are currently being prosecuted by the Police.
It is, therefore, untrue that the Police were in any way facilitating the smuggled consignments, as being claimed.
In the aftermath of the incident, the leadership of the three state security institutions promptly intervened to resolve the matter at the national level to maintain harmony and restore cooperation among the agencies involved.
Meanwhile, the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), under the chairmanship of the Upper East Regional Minister, is also meeting the personnel and their leaders at the regional level to complement the efforts made at the national level.
