NSS apologize to personnel for ‘military brutality’

The National Service Scheme has apologized to service personnel who were beaten and harassed by some military and police personnel on Monday at the LaDMA Annex opposite the El-Wak Sports Stadium in Accra.

It is said the incident was “regrettable” and called for calm among service personnel who are peeved over the incident.

The registration process for this year's national service personnel turned chaotic when some military personnel moved in to maintain order.

The presence of the military was necessitated by a long disorganized queue of prospective personnel.

The officers reportedly used belts and batons on the personnel leaving at least two persons injured.

One of the injured persons, a lady, is said to have been stuck on the head while a young man suffered injuries on knees from a strike by one of the uniformed personnel.

The Public Relations Officer of the Scheme, Ambrose Entsiwah Junior in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show said the incident could have been avoided if the personnel followed the scheme's procedure and not rushing to registers on the first day of the exercise.

But the statement from the NSS says it has put in place measures to ensure that the unfortunate incident does not reoccur.

“Management wishes to state that the incidents are regrettable, and therefore wishes to apologize to all such national service personnel and the general public for the recorded incidents of congestion which led to the manhandling.

“Management has put in place measures to ease the congestion and therefore wishes to appeal to all national service personnel to remain calm and go through the registration process smoothly,” it said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana