General News of 2026-10-15
Adib Saani weighs in on gunshots during National Security raid on sand winners
Security expert, Adib Saani, has questioned the use of gunfire during a National Security operation that led to the arrest of suspected illegal sand winners along the Accra-Kumasi Expressway corridor.
According to him, the operatives could have adopted a quieter approach to apprehend more suspects.
Reacting to the operation at Sewua in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti Region in an interview with GhanaWeb on October 15, 2026, he said the arrests were justified but questioned the tactics used by the operatives during the exercise.
According to him, the operation was necessary to protect the expressway project from activities that could undermine its construction and deprive the country of its anticipated economic benefits.
“These are enemies of the state, first of all, the operation is justified. I think it is important to highlight it because this expressway is going to bring the country a lot of economic benefits, including investments, because rules are critical components to every national absorbent agenda", he stated.
Saani, a former senior analyst with National Security who worked on special operations, said the raid was necessary not only to bring suspected offenders to book but also to deter others from engaging in similar activities.
He, however, questioned the decision to fire gunshots during the operation, explaining that the sound could alert suspects and give them the opportunity to escape before security personnel reached their intended targets.
“I do know how these things are done. You gather intelligence, which I believe they did. You go in quietly. You should go in very quietly and take them by surprise,” he said.
He explained that one of the principles of such operations was to approach suspects when they least expected it, thereby increasing the chances of apprehending them.
Saani suggested that the gunfire could have caused people at the scene to scatter, making it difficult for the operatives to arrest everyone allegedly involved in the illegal activity.
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He also raised concerns about how members of the public might react to seeing armed men firing from a vehicle, particularly when they could not immediately identify them as security personnel.
“If you are not into such an activity and you see a video which is not labelled or branded with any police colours or police insignia, then you see men firing from the window of a vehicle, you run, you scatter,” he said.
He maintained that the operatives could have achieved better results by approaching the scene quietly and taking the suspects by surprise.
Despite his reservations about the use of gunfire, Saani commended National Security for taking action against the suspected illegal sand winners.
“Surely, they need to be patted on the back for making the move in the first place,” he added.
National Security operatives arrested suspected illegal sand winners at Sewua on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, following a tip-off about sand-winning activities along the proposed expressway corridor.
Gunshots were fired during the operation as the suspects reportedly attempted to flee.
Trucks and other equipment were impounded, while the suspects were taken to the Fourth Battalion of Infantry for further investigations.
The proposed 198.7-kilometre Accra-Kumasi Expressway is expected to improve connectivity between the two cities and support economic activity.
JKB/VPO
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