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According to him, the hooded men who were seen pacing around the La Bawaleshie polling station were there on a confidence-building operation.
Col. Opoku made this statement when he appeared before the Emile Short Commission, which is currently probing the violence that rocked the by-election.
He explained that the masked men were deployed in order to assure voters that no vigilante groups would be allowed to disrupt the voting process.
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Col. Michael Opoku
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“The purpose was to provide the necessary surveillance for me. Most of those who were doing surveillance were in normal civil attire,” Col. Opoku said.
“The essence of that [confidence] patrol was to let the people within the constituency know that the security forces were ready to ensure that no vigilante group as they are known to be, could disturb the election on that day. So we were rather giving confidence to the populace to ensure that they come out and do what they are supposed to do.”
At least seven persons were reported injured following a shooting incident that occurred during Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.
This was after some macho men, dressed in NSC-branded t-shirts, allegedly attacked voters and fired gunshots at the La-Bawaleshie Presby JHS polling station.
Although the actions of the security personnel have been widely condemned, Col. Opoku said their presence did not scare voters.
His comments come after the SWAT Commander of National Security, DSP Samuel Azugu, infamously told the Emile Short Commission that the security personnel at the Ayawaso by-election wore masks to protect themselves from mosquito bites.