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Security Expert, Adib Sani, says the response from the presidency concerning the activities of members of a group agitating for independence for Western Togoland has come a little too late.
The group on Friday, September 25, 2020, blocked major entry points into Volta Region as part of measures to push the government to give them their sovereignty.
The group also attacked a police station and made away with weapons from their armoury which has been retrieved.
A similar incident occurred in the Ho STC yard on Tuesday, September 28, 2020, when four armed men stormed demanding the keys to all the vehicles parked. The armed men allegedly set two of the minibuses ablaze when the drivers did not produce the keys.
Preliminary investigations conducted by the Police show that there were 11 vehicles parked at the time of the incident. Two buses were completely burnt and another slightly burnt.
Reacting to both incidents almost a week after it had happened, the president of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said assured the general public that the secessionists are just a handful full of people and that they would be dealt with.
“If I panic, the country panics. It’s like the COVID-19 disease, if I had panicked, fear would have gripped all of us. But I know the work that God has appointed me to do; if I panic, the entire nation will also panic. That is not the purpose of leadership. I’m supposed to assure people that our country will work. What is happening in the Volta Region… it’s just a handful of people, these secessionists – we’ll deal with it. I have no doubts about it,” Akufo-Addo said in an interview.
Speaking on Atinka FM’s AM Drive with host Ekourba Gyasi, Security Expert, Adib Sani, explained that although restoring some level of confidence in the state security apparatus is a strategy in crisis management, the response from the president should have come a bit earlier.
He said the President should have responded to the attacks when the group assaulted policemen and blocked roads in
Meanwhile, Vice President for the Volta Regional House of Chiefs, Togbe Tepre Hodo IV has questioned the legitimacy of persons believed to be part of a secessionist group in the Volta Region fighting for its independence.
