There is no Boko Haram in Eastern Region - Police

The Ghana Police Service has denied the existence of a branch of Boko Haram, a militant Islamic insurgent group in Nigeria in any part of the Eastern Region, as media reports indicate. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), James Abass- Abaah, Deputy Regional Commander, made this known at a news briefing in Koforidua.

He explained that, in line with the Police policy of allowing communities to form neighbourhood watch committees to assist in the fight against crime, residents of Akyem Ofoase Zongo in the Akyemansa District attempted to form one.

However, some members of the group over stepped the legal limit by constituting themselves into a vigilante and flogging people perceived to be law breakers without recourse to due process. ACP Abass- Abaah said on December 16, when the Police got the information through social media, they acted quickly and arrested nine people but have since given them Police enquiry bail.

He said it was because of the flogging of the perceived law breakers that the Ofoase residents nicknamed them “Ofoase Boko Haram.” The Deputy Regional Commander emphasised that those arrested have no link with Boko Haram or any other group either in Ghana or outside the country.

He said Boko Haram is a serious security issue in West Africa and cautioned the media not to trivialise the issue. “If by their activities someone decides to nickname them Ofoase Boko Haram, I expect the media to be circumspect in making it appear that there is a threat of Boko Haram in Eastern Region,” he said.

ACP Abass-Abaah gave the assurance that, the Police had mapped up security plans for the yuletide and so far everything is going according to plan to enable Ghanaians spend calm holidays.