Major Derrick Oduro (Rtd)
The Deputy Defence Minister, Major Derrick Oduro (Rtd), has defended some alleged military brutalities meted against some civilians during the enforcement of the lockdown directive.
Some military personnel has been accused of high-handedness in the discharge of their duties.
Social media has been awash with videos of some alleged military brutalities.
But Major Oduro believes though a large number of those videos were fake, it is equally important for the military to sanction persons who defy the President’s lockdown directive.
“A lot of the video clips you’re seeing on social media are fake. Some are okay. They’re real. Maybe, a soldier brushing the eyes of a recalcitrant person with some cane. At least, it’s better than to be infected with the disease than you going round to infect others and then a whole number of people will die,” he told JoyNews.
He advised the media against giving publicity to persons who defy the directive.
According to the Deputy Defence Minister, the media must focus on the successes of the joint security task force and desist from reporting on excesses of the operation which he said are “minors”.
“Don’t let us praise them. Don’t let us give publicity to them. It is not written anywhere that they (military) should treat them (civilians) that way. No, we’re not saying that. That’s why we are investigating them (military). If they’re found to have performed wrongly, we’ll deal with them.
“…[It’s] just a few minor excesses we’re encountering. That shouldn’t take our minds from the good work that the media is doing. You’re educating the people, you’re making it possible for the people not to contract the disease. Don’t waste your time dwelling on what is happening now and talk about military beating them,”
President Akufo-Addo announced a two-week partial lockdown of Accra, Tema, Kasoa and Kumasi as part of measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus in Ghana.
Ghana joined other African countries like South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Mali, among others, to announce some restrictions of movement to curb the spread of the virus which has killed over 83,000 people across the globe.
287 cases and five deaths had been recorded in Ghana as of April 8, 2020.
The continuous rise in the number of Ghana’s cases sparked fears of a possible extension of the initial two-week partial lockdown.
Addressing the nation Sunday, April 5, President Akufo-Addo said a decision to either extend the lockdown or otherwise will be reached this week.
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