The Economic Fighters League wants punitive actions to be taken against military personnel that besieged Ashaiman on Tuesday, March 7, and rained terror on innocent civilians going about their daily routine.
The radical Nkrumahist movement in a statement to counter the explanation given by the Ghana Armed Forces for the Tuesday swoop said it was an intentional act by the military to subject innocent Ghanaians living at Ashaiman to inhumane pain and suffering.
Personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces stationed at Michel Camp besieged Ashaiman and subjected civilians to beatings and other forms of abuse over the murder of a military officer, Trooper Imoro Sheriff.
The brutalities attracted widespread condemnation which forced the Ghana Armed Forces to issue a presser indicating that the action of the military was sanctioned by the Military High Command.
But the Fighters, as members of the Economic Fighters League, are often called, are calling “for the immediate resignation of the commander in charge of such unlawfulness and the investigation, interdiction, and prosecution of all persons involved.”
You can read the full statement below;
“The Economic Fighters League issues this communiqué in reference to the statement issued by the Ghana Armed Forces’ (GAF) own PRESS RELEASE No:7 Dated 7th March 2022, though actually released on 8th March 2023.
The GAF intentionally directed attacks against an innocent Ghanaian civilian population, subjected them to inhumane treatment and willfully caused great suffering and serious injury to many citizens. They also intentionally directed attacks against and damaged private properties at Ashaiman-Taifa.
The unlawful and willful behaviour of the military is unconstitutional and a grave breach of the Geneva convention of 12th August 1949.
We call for the immediate resignation of the Commander in charge of such unlawfulness and the investigation, interdiction and prosecution of all persons involved.
The Economic Fighters League must express our low confidence in the Ghana Police Service, who’ve been missing in action, and are yet to issue a report on the murder of Trooper Imoro Sherrif and the subsequent military invasion and brutality against civilians in the Ashaiman-Taifa community.
Our lack of confidence in the Ghana Police Service stems from the fact that GAF usurped the mandate and jurisdiction of the Ghana Police Service by conducting unconstitutional raids and arrests of civilians over crimes the GAF have no jurisdiction over.
The Economic Fighters League cautions the general public to not ignore the disturbing trend of the arbitrary deployment of soldiers on the unarmed civilian population without parliamentary authorisation and the long record of how the military in recent times have maimed and murdered many unarmed Ghanaian civilians and destroyed and damaged private and public properties.
The rule of law and due process, which we all believe must be applicable in all areas and not just some areas. GAF is doing these things because the scam of a democracy we are practicing as a country emanated from the Military regime through a fake transition to civilian rule.
As such we take this opportunity to again state that we must have a constitution that effectively protects the citizens from such brutalities and all other abuse of civilian rights.
It has come to our notice that the GAF have subsequently deleted the said communiqué without any reason and the Economic Fighters League continues to monitor how this situation develops.
We call on the youth of Ghana, particularly the youth of Ashaiman, to remain calm in this volatile situation and to remain resilient in organising within the community. Together we can protect the interests of all of us as citizens and resist such unlawful acts of oppression and brutality.
Revolutionary Regards.”