According to Deputy Defence Minister Kofi Amankwa-Manu, the military operation that took place in Ashaiman on Tuesday morning was authorised.
He was responding to the early morning raid by military soldiers on areas of Ashaiman after one of their colleagues was killed nearby by unidentified assailants a few days earlier.
Following the raid, locals were reportedly placed under an unofficial curfew and others were brutally rounded up by the military and taken to an unknown destination.
Kofi Amankawa-Manu told JoyNews' PM Express that the military high command had authorised the operation to investigate the death of the young soldier.
"And so this morning at dawn, the army launched this operation to identify or apprehend those responsible for this terrible atrocity. It follows that the operations carried out this morning were authorised by the military high command and are a well-coordinated operation, which is essentially what is happening," he said.
He claims the operation was necessary to stop what he claims is a rise in attacks on military personnel in the country.
"Because, my brother, something is going on in our country and I think we need to be careful. From time to time, a soldier is killed. Let's take the recent untimely death of Major Mahama in the line of duty as an example. This young man, a young soldier in military uniform returning home to his parents, was murdered. What is really happening?
Is it illegal to want to join the military and serve your country as an officer? We don't understand it and we believe that the sooner we stop it before it gets out of hand, the better it will be for the whole nation.”
"It is something we have to do. So certainly the army had to intervene to find the people responsible for this horrible murder," he said.
While expressing regret for the military's misuse of force, the he argued that the operation was necessary.
“I think it is only right to acknowledge when there are excesses and in operations of this nature one or two people can get carried away. So, I mean, if decent, innocent residents of Ashaiman were caught up in this operation, I want to apologise in my capacity as Deputy Minister of Defence. We will apologise, of course, but, my brother, we won't apologise for the operations," he continued.
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