Indiscipline in Ghana’s security services should be a matter of serious concern among the leadership of the services.
On a number of occasions, security personnel have been caught engaging in robbery attacks and other vices as well as civilian brutalities.
As if that is not enough, security personnel, who are expected to show a high level of discipline, have on several occasions engaged in public brawls with either soldiers fighting with prison officers, or the police fighting immigration officers.
Some of these are so intense that gunshots are fired, endangering the very peace and lives these officers are supposed to be protecting.
Here are instances of the nation’s security apparatus engaged in ‘bloody fights’ amongst themselves:
Soldiers, police clash at Accra Central:
Personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service clashed in the nation’s capital, Accra, on Monday, March 27, 2023.
A video shared on social media showed some men in military uniforms engaging in a scuffle with some other uniformed men.
According to the editor of the Finder Newspaper, Elvis Darko, who shared a video of the incident on Facebook, the scuffle happened after the soldiers attacked an ununiformed policeman.
He added that the attack on the policeman led to violent clashes between the police and army personnel.
Neither the Ghana Armed Forces nor the Ghana Police Service commented on the incident.
Feuding soldiers, prison officers engage in bloody fight at Bawku Naba’s Palace:
A violent altercation between peacekeeping troops and personnel of the Ghana Prison Service in Bawku, Upper East Region, resulted in numerous injuries among officers in April 2024.
The clash was said to have erupted at the Bawku Naba Palace during an inaugural ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the skin.
According to reports, the altercation stemmed from a previous dispute over a missing phone.
Soldiers assigned to provide security at the ceremony reportedly assaulted a prison officer on duty, accusing him of involvement in a phone theft, leading to his hospitalisation.
In retaliation, prison officers from the Bawku Central Prisons reportedly converged at the Palace armed with guns and engaged in a violent confrontation with the soldiers.
Gunshots were allegedly fired, and both sides sustained injuries. The injured officers were transported to the Vineyard Hospital in Bawku for medical attention.
According to reports, it took a police intervention to bring the situation under control. Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has yet to issue a statement on the incident.
Videos sighted by GhanaWeb from the clash on social media show several bloodied officers of the Prison Service being rushed for medical attention.
Some of the prison officers are heard repeatedly bemoaning the conduct of the military while threatening to abandon their post over their safety.
Ugly scenes in Bawku,the military have attacked and even shot a prison officer at the Bawku local prisons pic.twitter.com/cpgR4ANHsu
— HUMBLE BRUCE (@cfchumblebruce) April 24, 2024
Soldiers in Bawku attack prison officers pic.twitter.com/XdUtnzJetx
— Yoo Yili Pag’bia (@Nyaba_Abu) April 24, 2024
GPHA security and immigration officers at Tema Port:
Again in May 2024, a heated misunderstanding between the Security of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and officials of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) escalated into a violent clash.
According to MyNewsGH.com, approximately 12 GPHA security personnel forcibly entered the GIS office at MPS to detain two officers following a dispute that arose during routine vessel inspections on the MSC DYMPHNA.
Reports indicate that the GPHA security team insisted on searching the officers after they completed their duties on the vessel.
However, Inspector Benjamin Nketia objected, allowing the search of their bags but refusing the personal search of the officers, asserting that male personnel should not search female officers under any circumstances.
This refusal was met with hostility from GPHA Security, leading to an exchange of insults and physical harassment.
After the vessel incident, the GPHA security officers proceeded to the GIS office to arrest the officers in question for their non-compliance with the search request.
Their attempt was met with staunch resistance from the GIS officers, resulting in turmoil between the two entities and the destruction of AICO II Boadu’s uniform.
Heavy gunfire erupts at checkpoint in Bawku as police and Customs officers clash
The latest clash between the nation’s security services is the heavy gunfire that erupted at the Missiga Immigration Service checkpoint in Bawku following a confrontation between personnel from the Ghana Police Service and Customs officials on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.
According to a post by TV3 on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, reliable sources say the clash began when police officers refused to let Customs inspect the contents of a truck en route to neighbouring Togo.
Customs suspected the truck was carrying smuggled cocoa beans and insisted on investigating, leading to a heated standoff.
The situation escalated into an exchange of gunfire between the two state security agencies, which was only brought under control when soldiers intervened.
There was heavy gunfire this afternoon [ October 9,2024] at the Missiga Immigration Service checkpoint in Bawku after a disagreement ensued between personnel of the Ghana Police Service and Customs.
According to reliable security sources, tempers flared up after some police… pic.twitter.com/EaWlhfiQLA
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) October 9, 2024
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