ModernGhana reporter lied; he was neither tortured nor electrocuted – Afenyo-Markin

Member of the Parliament for the Effutu constituency, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has revealed that editor of online news portal, Modernghana.com, lied about the supposed torture of himself and a colleague reporter at the National Security Secretariat.

The editor, Emmanuel Ajafor Abugri, in an interview with JoyNews Monday, said he as well as his colleague were subjected to beatings and slaps for ‘unconvincing’ matters.

He further claimed he was subjected to electric shock and other forms of torture by national security operatives after his arrest last Thursday.

But reacting to this in an interview with Accra based AdomTV, Mr. Afenyo-Markin stated on authority that his checks at the secretariat reveal that no such thing ever happened.

“Two people were arrested, one, an editor and one, a reporter. Yesterday I listened to the Editor on JoyNews in the evening in which he said both himself and the reporter were tortured. I wasn’t at the National security secretariat myself, but the reporter’s Godfather is my friend. So after I listened to the news, I called the Godfather and asked for clarification. After 10 minutes time, the Godfather called me and told me he’s spoken to the reporter and he said he was not subjected to any form of torture. I can tell you on authority, that contrary to the allegation made by the editor, on JoyNews last night, I, Afenyo Markins, want to put my name on the line for this matter, because the editor alleged both of them were subjected to torture. What is not good is not good and we owe it a duty as Politicians ”

He added that “You know in this country, people work with agendas. Under no circumstance will Kan Dapaah, or my good self or anybody serious in politics in Ghana, order someone’s arrest merely because they made comments about them.”

National Security response to the editor’s claims

Meanwhile, the National Security Secretariat on Monday, released a statement, also indicating that the alleged claims of torture made by Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri are false.

“The National Security Council Secretariat has taken notice of reports that Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri, one of the two suspects from Modern Ghana who was arrested for engaging in cyber-crimes, has made claims of being subjected to acts of torture whilst in the custody of its officers.

The Secretariat takes a very serious view of these claims, and wishes to state, in no uncertain terms, that these allegations are false” the release stated.

The statement also read in parts ‘We consider it to be a clear and deliberate attempt by the suspect to discredit the investigations and the case against him”

Read the full statement below:

National Security Secretari... by on Scribd

NDC calls for Independent Investigation into the Brouhaha

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) is however calling for an independent investigation into the claims raised by Emmanuel Ajafor Abugri.

Speaking in the same interview monitored by ABC News Ghana, Former Deputy Minister for Communications, Felix Ofosu Kwarkye, stated that in order to prevent a possible conflict of interest in the investigations, it should be carried out by an independent investigative body.

“My worry is that under President Akufo-Addo’s administration, security operatives have impunity and they do whatever they like. National security breached the law in the manner in which they went about the arrest. They didn’t have the right to arrest the two because the police have cyber unit who are supposed to be responsible in handling cyber related crimes. When you listen to what the guy is saying and the statement National Security released, it doesn’t make sense so we need independent assessment of the case. there is something called conflict of interest, this issue is relating to National Security and so we need an independent body who can investigate the matter without their interest been conflicted” he stated