How can EOCO be accused of wanting to kidnap Baffour Awuah in full glare of the public? Kwakye Ofosu quizzes

Minister of Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu has questioned how the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) could be accused of attempting to kidnap Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah when footage of the encounter showed what he described as a polite attempt to get the MP to go with the officer.

Kwakye Ofosu was reacting to claims surrounding the September 23 confrontation between Baffour Awuah and an EOCO official outside the Accra High Court.

“How can EOCO be accused of wanting to kidnap him?” he asked on Joy News, pointing to the video of the incident.

“You saw the video, I saw the video. Indeed, at the beginning of the video, I can say that I have never seen a law enforcement officer show so much politeness and civility towards a subject that he wants to arrest.”

According to him, the female officer did not behave in a way that suggested she was trying to forcibly take the MP away.

“The lady was essentially doing a mea culpa and begging the MP to come with her. She did not pose any threat whatsoever to the MP in question,” he said.

Kwakye Ofosu also said EOCO had the capacity to use a tactical team if its intention had been to forcibly apprehend Baffour Awuah.

“I am also aware that indeed, EOCO had a tactical team that had the capacity to forcefully apprehend this person if they needed to apply for it. But they didn’t apply for it after they engaged the mood,” he said.

Baffour Awuah has said he drove away from the scene because he believed he was facing an attempted kidnapping. EOCO, however, has said the incident was an attempted arrest connected to an ongoing investigation.