Seized Car Saga; Castle Man Pulls Gun

The seized cars debacle took a ballistic turn Wednesday as the deputy to the Castle-appointed Chairman of Confiscated Vehicle Disposal Committee, Carl Wilson, pulled a pistol on a National Security operative attached to the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) at the Tema Port State Warehouse.

Nana Kublan Olivier, thought to be a French national and a deputy to Mr Wilson, is being held by the Ports and Railway Police after he was disarmed by Chief Collector Nicholas Okporah of CEPS, when he threatened to blow off the head of a national security operative.

Olivier turned up Wednesday at the Golden Jubilee Container Terminal at the Port of Tema in the company of some National Security operatives from the Castle, armed with a document signed by his boss, Carl Wilson, seeking access to a container loaded with cars.

The CEPS officials at the spot, finding the procedure a breach of the stipulated arrangement, prevented the man from having his way.

The CEPS officials' stance was premised on the fact that the opening of containers with the marking UCL or Undeclared Container List must be guided by the Customs Act No. 634.

Angry at the turn of events, the man with the delegated authority of Carl Wilson and therefore the Castle, pulled a pistol after engaging in a brief war of words with some National Security operatives attached to CEPS at the port.

As he pulled the pistol, a scene was created but in a flash, Chief Collector Nicholas Okporah, the CEPS officer in charge of the State Warehouse at the Port of Tema, disarmed the Castle man to the relief of his colleagues.

Olivier was handed over to the National Security Council's representative at the port, a certain Lt. Col. Agodogoh (rtd) who ordered an emergency meeting between representatives of CEPS at the port and their National Security counterparts to discuss what had transpired as the gun-pulling Olivier was handed over to the Port and Railway Police, according to Oman FM's Moses Dawutey.

The Port and Railway Police Commander, ACP Adu-Amankwah, confirmed the story to Oman FM.

The Confiscated Vehicle Car Disposal Committee attracted disturbing headlines last week when it was disclosed that the chairman of the Castle-established body was involved in dubious deals as regards the disposal of the vehicles.

While some of the vehicles went for pittance, others simply went away gratis, to people dangling flimsy chits issued at the Castle.

The Deputy Chief of Staff, Alex Segbefia, defended the committee and the procedure for the disposal, asking that anybody with evidence against his appointee, Carl Wilson, should come forward.

Carl Wilson was arrested by some Castle operatives when he sent a car to a joint at Asylum Down for spraying under the cover of darkness, but he was released almost immediately.

The disposal of cars is part of the party cronies supporting mechanisms and the government is set to defend it to the hilt.