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In a chilling account of media harassment and alleged abuse of power, JoyNews reporter Carlos Carlony has shared details of a traumatic encounter with military operatives during a demolition exercise at a disputed warehouse site in Accra.
The facility, owned by businessman Daniel McKorley, CEO of the McDan Group, was the focus of the operation that quickly escalated into a tense confrontation involving alleged physical assault and detainment.
Carlos and his crew were on site to cover the demolition when heavily armed personnel from National Security arrived and reportedly forced McKorley and three others to kneel at gunpoint.
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According to Carlos, the situation turned violent, and he himself was attacked.
In fact, I was punched. By then, the CEO of McDan Group and his three others were asked to kneel. So they were kneeling at gunpoint.
Carlos revealed on The Pulse on JoyNews.
He explained that the soldiers suspected he had recorded the moment the McDan CEO and others were being humiliated, prompting them to confront both him and an eyewitness at the scene.
We tried to capture that moment; we could not, so we left it. But they thought that we had captured the moment when McDan, the CEO, was kneeling with his three others. But then this eyewitness was also somewhere being beaten by other military people.
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The journalist further disclosed that the operatives accused the group of obstructing what they claimed was a lawful demolition. However, McDan reportedly challenged the legitimacy of the operation.
The initial conversation I heard was that they were being charged for interfering in the lawful demolition. But when we spoke to the CEO, he said they were yet to see any official document from those carrying out the demolition
Carlos recounted.
Following the altercation, Carlos says he was arrested along with McKorley and others and taken to a National Security facility.
He was later released and transported back to the location of the incident under military escort.
They gave me a pickup with three military personnel back to the scene. They drove me back to pick up my vehicle
He said.
However, the ordeal didn’t end there. Upon returning, he says he was again subjected to scrutiny, this time over a mobile phone believed to contain footage of the event.
I had my driver’s phone with me, and they demanded to check the visuals on his phone. I had to call the driver to give me the password. Seven armed men stood there while we unlocked and searched the phone.
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The same level of inspection, according to Carlos, took place at the National Security office, where his personal devices were thoroughly checked.
They went through my phones… They really didn’t want me to capture the moment where the CEO was kneeling, which was, I don’t know, a bit demeaning, because guns were pointed at him and his people.
Carlos Carlony’s account raises serious questions about press freedom, the use of military force in civil matters, and the transparency of operations carried out in the name of national security.