The Ministry of Information on Friday condemned the attack on a journalist with Akyemansa FM in the Eastern Region.
Nicholas Morkah was manhandled by military officers during a joint Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) and military operations in Akim Oda on Thursday, October 12, 2023.
His woes began when he started filming the military attack on a young man in front of the Akim Oda Post Office in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern Region.
“When one of them saw me filming them they rushed towards me and I told them I was a journalist but they went ahead to hit me severally and dragged me into their car with the other gentleman and drove downwards. They stopped and asked the gentleman to get down,” he narrated.
He was sent to the barracks to meet their Commanding Officer and the Customs Excise and Preventive Service Officers who had come for an operation to seize about 16 cars particularly taxis that had entered the country without proper documentation.
At the barracks, his phones were seized, and all his files including crucial documents that he would need to complete several correspondences deleted.
“They inspected my other phone and saw some video materials of police officers, they watched it and perceived that I was an undercover journalist with powerful information so they sent me to the Divisional Police Command for further investigation and interrogations. Military Officer Kwadoe and Mohammed in the company of the other two officers took me to Akim Oda Police Headquarters,” Mr. Morkah noted.
Subsequently, he was granted a GH5000.00 bail after writing his statement.
Nicholas Morkah visited the Oda Government Hospital to seek medical attention.
The Ministry of Information in a statement strongly condemned the attack, which adds up to the many cases of journalists abuses and the suppression of the media.
While drawing the attention of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to the brutality, the Information Ministry called for a thoroughly investigation into the incident and the military personnel responsible for the assault punished.
The journalist in question is living with disability. The Ministry asked the GAF to make “efforts to ensure that he is provided with medical support if required”
“I count on your prompt action,” the statement signed by Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister for Information, who doubles as the owner of the radio station the assaulted journalist works with added.
