The Ghana Armed Forces is urging the public to respect and cooperate with the military in the discharge of their duties at all times.

According to the military high command, support, collaboration, and cooperation from the public are the only means by which the command can discharge their duties peacefully to ensure development at all levels in the country.

Speaking to Citi News on recent alleged attacks by some military personnel on residents of Bawku on the sidelines of the presentation of 2,500 audio bible devices by Theovision International, a Christian NGO, the Chief of Staff at the General Headquarters of the Ghana Armed Forces, Major Gen. Nicholas Peter Andoh, called on Ghanaians to avail themselves to understand and support the military.

“In Bawku, there were some allegations that our troops have gone on a rampage to attack people. It was actually initiated by Adam Gh, and we had a meeting with them, the CDS had a meeting with the executives together with the Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, and at the meeting, they were made to understand that, that was not the case. Our troops were there to assist the civil authority together with other security agencies to bring peace to the area, and then they were attacked by unscrupulous people. By natural justice, they were supposed to respond in self-protection, and they did that and unfortunately a few people got injured and that is a natural justice”.

“It is the desire and the teachings within the Armed Forces to protect every citizen. Indeed, anybody on the streets out there is our brother, our sister, our mother, our child, and so we don’t go out to vent out violence on the same people that we are supposed to protect. Now this is the reality, and so the information that was churned out that we went out brutalizing people is not true, our troops fired in self-defense, three of them were injured, and they were hospitalized out of the attack from the unscrupulous people.”

A gunfight between the military and residents of Buabula on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, led to the loss of two lives.

Residents who sustained injuries were sent to Akunye and Vineyard hospitals in Bawku and Pusiga respectively for treatment, while three injured soldiers were airlifted to the 37 military hospital for treatment.

Maj. General Nicholas Peter Andoh urged the public to cooperate with the security agencies including the military.

“Our job is to protect you, it will help create security for the environment and for development to take place. Where there is peace, there is development, where there is no peace there is nothing, so our job is to intervene and create a situation for normal development to take place, and so that is the message I want to give, but we need the cooperation of the public, cooperation by way of information sharing, cooperation by way of respect. We are there for them. Without the civil population, the Armed Forces will not exist.”