The Member of Parliament for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga has condemned the alleged military assault on some residents of Garu in the Upper East Region.

According to the former Minister for Information, the attack is “barbaric and unacceptable in today’s Ghana.”

In a press statement issued on Monday, October 30, Mr Ayariga said he would join his colleague MPs from the region to demand a full-scale inquiry into the issue.

“I recall being involved in a discussion with the Minister for National Security a few days earlier about some national security operatives who had been stopped in Garu and handed over to the police.”

“I saw media reports of the alleged shooting of the vehicle used by the National Security operatives by unknown persons in the Garu area."

“If the incident is a retaliation by the soldiers, this will be most unfortunate and unacceptable in today’s Ghana and he (National Security Minister) has to get to the bottom of the matter and hold the military personnel involved in this dastardly act accountable," an excerpt of his press release said.

This was after the military in conjunction with National Security forces on Sunday, October 29, stormed the communities following an attack on five National Security personnel deployed to the area on a counter-terrorism assignment.

The irate youth, who were not convinced about the identities of the five men after they had accosted them, had gone on to chase them into a police station and besieged the station till the personnel were rescued by the Ghana Armed Forces.

Read also: National Security Ministry addresses alleged brutality in Garu; condemns attack on officers

According to the National Security Ministry, the operation was to retrieve the AK 47s the youth had fired at their personnel and to arrest the perpetrators.

In the aftermath of the incident, many men in the areas had fled their homes to seek refuge in the forest, and the Garu District Hospital has been inundated with severe injury cases.

Meanwhile, the Members of Parliament for Garu and Tempane constituencies, Albert Alalzuuga Akuka and Lydia Akanvariba Adakudugu, respectively, have condemned the brutal attack on their constituents.

The MPs expressed solidarity with affected constituents and demanded a thorough investigation into the incident to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their actions.

• Read also: MPs for Garu, Tempane condemn military brutality in their constituencies

“Any form of violence and brutalities meted on citizens, especially when it is perpetrated by those who are supposed to serve and protect them must be condemned unequivocally.”

“We are deeply disturbed by these reports, especially considering the volatile nature of the area vis-a-vis the Bawku Conflict (note that Garu and Tempane are part of the Bawku Traditional Area), and we are therefore actively seeking more information about the situation,” they said in a joint press statement.