Prof Anning urges military action against Delta Force

Security expert, Prof Kwesi Anning, has said last week's attack on the Ashanti Region Security Coordinator by members of pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) vigilante group, Delta Force, calls for military intervention.

The Director at the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) said the attack on DCOP Kwaku Ayesu Opare-Addo (rtd) represents an affront to the Executive powers of President Nana Akufo-Addo and must not be handled by the police.

“When you defy the orders of a President, routinely, those who defy that must be punished and resisted, not by the police force but by the armed forces. Precisely because by defying a Presidential Commission or appointee, you challenge the authority of the Commander-in-Chief and we can’t and we mustn’t have that. This is dangerous and is getting out of hand,” Prof Anning said.

His comment on Monday, May 17 on current affairs programme, PM Express, is in reaction to last Tuesday's attack on the Ashanti Region Security Coordinator by the notorious vigilante group who were thought to have been disbanded.

DCOP Opare-Addo (rtd) was manhandled by the pro-NPP thugs, forcefully removed from his office, and handcuffed him on Tuesday, May 11.

DCOP Opare-Addo (rtd), a former police regional commander, told the media that the armed NPP-affiliates said they were acting on the orders of the National Security Coordinator.

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Reasons for the attack on the Ashanti Region Security Coordinator remains sketchy but the former Ashanti Region Police Commander believes it could be because of his hard stance against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, in the area.

He said he is convinced that someone higher up on the National Security ladder wants him removed from office at all cost.

“They came to the office around 5 pm and said they have been directed to bring me to the National Security Coordinator. I said I won’t go. Then they handcuffed me and pushed me here and there and the police came in and even pointed an AK47 at me,” he narrated his ordeal to Joy News on Monday, May 17, 2021.

DCOP Opare-Addo (rtd) said he still feels pain in his right leg as a result of the incident and has vowed to seek legal redress for the abuse of his rights.

Police are investigating the matter but the Delta Force members who attacked DCOP Opare Addo are roaming free after making bail.

Speaking on the matter yesterday evening on PM Express, Prof Anning said last Tuesday’s incident proves that activities of vigilante groups must be seen as an imminent threat to national security.

“I am happy to the DCOP for the linkage between vigilantism, national security and illegal mining activities. That is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of how vigilante groups are now franchising the skill sets that they have into law enforcement, mining, cattle wrestling, logging of rosewood…we are seeing the beginnings of a hydra-headed monster that we need to elevate into an existential threat to the state,” Prof Anning said.