Proliferation of small arms cause of recent killings – Captain Budu Koomson

Retired army officer Captain Budu Koomson has attributed the cause of recent killings in the country to the proliferation of illicit small arms.

Failure of responsible agencies to crack the whip on the production of these arms, as well as preventing them from being smuggled into country, he noted, makes it easily accessible for people to acquire them to shoot and kill.

His comments come on the back of the recent killing of investigative journalist, Ahmed Hussein-Suale who was shot three times at close range near his residence in Madina, Accra.

Speaking on TV3’s Key Points Saturday, he said considering the nature of the job the deceased did, stringent security measures ought to have been put in place to protect him.

“With the sort of work they are doing, they themselves, do they have extra security, are people having their back for them?

“It now brings home to them that considering the job I am doing, I have to take commensurate personal security measures,” Retd Captain Koomson emphasized.

The killing of Ahmed is not an isolated case this year. Since the start of this year, two other persons have been shot and killed.

An engineer at the Ghana Water Company Limited, Joseph Migal Jinjer was shot and killed on New Year’s Eve while in the company of his family.

Public Affairs Manager at the Ghana Ports and Habour Authority Mrs. Josephine Asante who was killed at her residence is suspected to have been shot.

In December last year, the clan head of the Prampram Traditional Area, Nene Atsure Benta III, was gunned down by some unknown assailants at Apollonia, in the Kpone-Katamanso Municipality.

These killings, which many suspect to be contract killing, have raised concerns over the country’s security, with some people including Amnesty International arguing the development has a potential to put Ghanaians into a state of fear, insecurity and worry.

Captain Retd Koomson has thus underscored the need for a closer attention to be paid to small arms proliferation in the country.

“… We are losing track of very serious threats that we are not addressing, and it is the proliferation of illegal small arms.”

He noted that because Ghana is known for being peaceful and liberal, some people are taking advantage of that liberalism to enter the country with all sorts of arms and ammunitions.

He is thus calling on appropriate agencies and authorities to ensure that the proliferation of arms and its production in the country is properly checked in order to prevent occurrences such as the recent killings.

“There should be a concerted effort to make people fear that we can come after you or we are making a deliberate effort to deal with the issue,” he stressed.

According to Captain Retd Koomson, beside the arms proliferation, it could also be the case that people are now being reckless with these killings because of the perception that these issues are not being resolved fast enough.

That, he observed, appears to have emboldened people to commit such crimes because they feel they could easily get away with it.

He therefore charged security agencies to ensure that perpetrators of such crimes are brought to book within a reasonable time frame.