State security authorities have recommended investigative journalist Edward Adeti to relocate his family from the Upper East Region after learning of plots by some hired gangs to either eliminate him or abduct his family.
Adeti’s undercover investigations have seen a number of people including high-profile figures forced to resign from their jobs, interdicted, hauled before disciplinary committees and arraigned before court for some alleged criminal offences.
Threats on the journalist’s life were expected to continue even after he and his family were compelled to flee their Bolgatanga home in 2019 in connection with one of his works as he sustained the spotlight on systemic injustices and corruption. His house was burgled into, his rooms stripped bare and some of his belongings taken away that year by some faceless intruders widely suspected to have been upset about his exposé.
Law enforcement officers disclosed on Thursday 27th February, 2020, a fresh plot by a public servant (name withheld) who, bent on taking vengeance on Adeti and an undercover agent (name withheld) for his interdiction, had contracted a gang to assassinate the journalist or abduct his family if the elimination plan failed. The latest hint comes after Adeti himself reportedly had told trusted friends that some strange-looking faces had been spotted around his office in Bolgatanga on a number of occasions.
“Attacks on journalists are not getting any better,” said one of the security officers, who did not want his name disclosed. “You are either attacked verbally or attacked physically for speaking truth to power. Even at times, the violent attack might not come from a public figure you have exposed but from somebody who feels your exposé has blocked their own daily bread.”
The assassination of Ahmed Hussein-Suale, an undercover investigator and associate of world-acclaimed undercover journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, plunged Ghana into a state of shock on Wednesday January 16, 2019. The young journalist was inside his vehicle when unidentified men suddenly opened fire on him, shooting him twice in the chest and once in the neck. There was strong international condemnation of the attack and murder.
Adeti has lodged a formal complaint at the Upper East Regional Police Headquarters about the reported latest threats.
“I know the path I have chosen is a rough and tough one; that is why I am so much hated by the greedy eaters of rot and their allies who passionately do not want to see me see another day. The world has only two warring sides. We can’t be neutral in the situation we find ourselves. We can either be an agent of light or belong to the force of darkness. I chose the one I mentioned first— light.
“Light is noble and will always win in the end. I will stay on my lane, striving to be perfect as I move along with like-minded colleagues. I will remain true to myself no matter what. There is no need for any reminder that we are not here for pleasure. When you liberate innocent captives, you should not expect the oppressors and those who wish that the captives remained in captivity to be happy with you,” Adeti said in an interview.
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