Secessionist attack: ‘We are currently living in fear’ – North Tongu MP

The residents of North Tongu Constituency in the Volta region are living in a state of fear following the recent attacks on lives and property by secessionist groups, Member of Parliament for the area has said.

According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, there is currently an emergence of other radical groups that are plotting mayhem.

Speaking on CitiFM’s Eye Witness News on Monday, September 28, Okudzeto Ablakwa said, “We are now having a situation where a radical wing has emerged and the people in my constituency are now living in fear and never in the history of our region and my constituency has a police station been overpowered”

“Never has the armory of these police stations been broken into as I speak to you a stash of weapons; 19 of them from the Aveyime Police Station, 14 AK47 guns, five pump action guns and two other rifles in Mepe are in the hands of wrong people,” he added.

He warned that security services must critically prioritize the situation and seek to avert any insurgence by these groups.

The Volta Region on Friday, September 25, 2020, was thrown into a state of chaos as members of a secessionist group, seeking the independence of the area to become the Western Togoland, staged spontaneous attacks in various parts of the region.

The attacks included blocking major entry points to the region as well as attacks on the Aveyime and Mepe police stations all in the North Tongu District.

Mr Okudzeto, however, noted that even though the secession campaign has largely been fronted by people supposedly from the Volta Region, majority of what is the Volta Region today was not a part of the Western Togoland.

This latest incident comes just days after some 31 suspects alleged to be secessionists were remanded by an Accra Circuit Court into BNI custody for two weeks.

They are facing five provisional charges including conspiracy to attend a prohibited meeting, unlawful gathering and rioting.

They reportedly pleaded not guilty when they appeared before the Accra Circuit Court Two on Monday, September 28, 2020.