Kumasi, June 07, GNA – The military officer captured on video aiming to shoot into the crowd in the heat of the Ejura disturbances did not pull the trigger, Lt Col. Kwasi Ware Peprah, the Commanding Officer of 4th Battalion of Infantry, has disclosed.
He said the Officer knelt and aimed at the crowd not because he wanted to shoot but as part of military strategies to scare off the rampaging youth.
He told the Ministerial Committee probing the shooting incident at Ejura that no casualty was recorded from the direction where the officer pointed the gun.
He made the claim when he appeared before the committee as the fourth witness to give testimony on the second day of the hearing.
The primary role of the military in internal security operations, he noted, was to restore peace and order with a little more force mostly when the police were being overwhelmed.
He, therefore, justified that if the military had not taken the action they took and allowed the crowd to have their way, security would have broken down and the consequences would have been dire.
The Commanding Officer said the commentary that followed the incident in both the traditional and social media was misplaced because the public was not familiar with the standard operating procedures of the military.
He blamed the media for misinforming the public during such operations, thereby attracting public disaffection for the military unnecessarily.
He said it was imperative and in the interest of the public for the media to seek clarification, especially on matters of national interest before publication in order not to inflame passion.
“My Lord even as I sit before you no media person has called my outfit for any information since the incident happened yet all sorts of things are being said about the military in the media space,” he lamented.
GNA