Nigeria president Muhammadu Buhari has in reaction to a planned attempt to subvert the government of Ghana, said days of people resorting to the barrel of the gun to come to power are over.
Three suspects are currently on remand at the fortified Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) after a 15-month surveillance on their activities aimed at targeting Ghana’s presidency with an “ultimate aim of destabilizing the country,” the information ministry said in a statement Monday, 23 September 2019.
They have been slapped with five charges including possessing weapons without authorisation and will re-appear in court on October 9, 2019.
The arrests took place at a hospital known as Citadel Hospital at Alajo and Bawaleshie near Dodowa all in the Greater Accra region. It was a joint operation carried out by the police CID, BNI and Defense Intelligence, the statement added.
Some of the items retrieved were five locally manufactured pistols with magazines fitted on, a foreign pistol with magaiznes, , three locally manufactured pistol barrels, three smoke grenades, 22 improved explosives devices, nine NATO AK47 rounds, two AK47 magazines and long knife.
Reacting to the news, Buhari said Ghana has been instrumental in maintaining peace in the sub-region and therefore has the support of his country.
“Nigeria and Ghana are leading partners in ECOWAS, and Transparency International, and Afrobarometer’s Africa Index 2019 attested that both countries have recorded exceptional advances in fighting corruption. When you take on powerful and corrupt vested interests successfully, sometimes they seek to push back. As the saying goes, ‘if you fight corruption, corruption will fight back’.
“The only acceptable form of governance in our region in this 21st century is through democratic elections. It is the only way to install – and the only way to change – an administration. The days of coups and government without votes are over.
“All Africans hold the nation of Ghana in the highest esteem as the first post-colonial country to gain independence, and the first African country to hold multi-party elections by universal suffrage. Ghana is the first, true African democracy.
“We in Nigeria hold out – as always – our hands in support and friendship to our brothers and sisters in Ghana,” a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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