Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says he is reliably informed the secessionists who launched attacks on security installations over the weekend were largely from Togo and not Volta Region.
According to him, his fact-finding after the incidence has pointed to the fact that the language of the large majority of the attackers who besieged the two police stations at Mepe and Avehime in his constituency did not sound Ghanaian as there was variation in the Ewe language.
Ghanaians woke up to the news of some secessionist group blocking roads leading to the Volta Region while clamouring for independence from Ghana.
On Friday, September 25, 2020, some of the members of the group blocked some major roads and burnt lorry tyres on the ECOWAS road at Tademe, some kilometres away from the Sogakope Bridge in the South Tongu District impeding vehicular movement and leaving passengers traveling to areas in the Region stranded.
The group also attacked Police stations at Aveyime and Mepe in the North Tongu District, amidst demands for the Volta Region to be an autonomous country known as "Western Togoland".
However, in a swift response, a joint team from the Military and the Ghana Police Service nipped it in the bud with 31 people being arrested in connection with the uprising.
Surprisingly, on Tuesday dawn, the the secessionist group carried out an arson attack at the State Transport Corporation (STC) yard in Ho.
Commenting on Okay FM's Ade Akye Abia Morning Show about the secessionists attack, the NDC MP said his assertions are based on briefings he received from security agencies.
“If you listen to those who are at the forefront, they are saying that the large majority of the attackers, the kind of language, even the war songs they were chanting did not sound Ghanaian; the variation of the Ewe language, at this point the suspicion is that they were from Togo and that is what many of the briefs I have received from the police chiefs are pointing to, that they were largely not from my constituency or from the Volta Region. At this point, the suspicion is that they came from Togo”, he asserted.
Hon Ablakwa, who is a former Deputy Education Minister, further revealed that the attacks appeared well coordinated as the secessionists simultaneously besieged the Mepe and Avehime police stations, and the offices of the District Assembly and even managed to over-power a reinforcement team from Sogakope.
“First of all, the attackers distracted the police and created the impression by a few of them that approached the police station that they were to lodge a complaint and so as the police were taking down the complaint, the others swarmed the police station and broke into the police armory at Avehime and made away 14 AK-47 rifles and 2 pump-action guns.
"A similar event occured at Mepe police station and the secessionists took from the armory 2 AK-47 rifles....So, it was welcome coordinated; those people who carried out the attack were well trained....
“The Sogakope Divisional Police Commander who rushed to the scene with reinforcement detachment was also overpowered and their weapons were also retrieved by the secessionists. And looking at the narrative from the eye-witness, clearly, the attackers were as many as 50 people at the Mepe police station and at the Avehime police station, they were about 70 people and those who laid ambush to overpower the approaching reinforcement detachment, led by the Sogakope Divisional Police Commander, we are also hearing high numbers there”.
“And those who blocked the Juapong entry into the Volta Region were not less than 100 people and so it was quite a high number. What happened at the dawn of Friday was no joke; the secessionists were in possession of sophisticated weapons and they had superior firepower, quite clearly and if you listen to the police, the attackers are trained and they had weapons”, he narrated.
Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa, therefore, called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who is also the Commander-In-Chief and the entire security apparatus to exercise their constitutional responsibility by protecting and preserving the territorial integrity of the country.
“We have to acknowledge that the entire national security apparatus and the head of national security council, H.E the President who is the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces are the relevant authorities in charge of the protection and safety of the citizens which the Constitution mandates them to protect and preserve our territorial integrity”, he charged.
