• He disclosed President Akufo-Addo has directed him to remain at post.

• Earlier, alleged members of the pro-NPP vigilante group, Delta Force, handcuffed DCOP Opare Addo and dragged him out of office.

Embattled Ashanti Regional Security Liaison Officer, DCOP Opare Addo says Captain (Rtd.) Budu Koomson, a former military officer, is among those who want to remove him from office.

Captain (Rtd.) Budu Koomson allegedly sent the incumbent NPP vigilante group, Delta Force, to remove DCOP Opare Addo from office, claims Opare Addo himself.

Some alleged members of the NPP vigilante group, Delta Force, on Tuesday, May 11, at about 5 pm went to the officer of the Ashanti Regional Security Liaison Officer and handcuffed him, insisting that he should vacate his position, DCOP Opare Addo told the media.

According to DCOP Opare Addo, the Delta Force arrived in his office unannounced, claiming to be personnel from the National Security Secretariat who had been ordered to come and take him to Accra.

He disclosed: “They came to the office about 5 pm and said that they’ve been directed to bring me to the National Security Coordinator. I said I won’t go so they handcuffed me, pushed me here and there, pointed AK 47 at me.

“They came and assaulted me, pointing AK 47 at me and the likes, hitting me, even when I was going to urinate one of the boys followed me and said he was following me to the toilet, I said what do you mean?

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“He said but you’re a man, I am also a man, I can look at it because you can also look at mine. I said why! Am I a baby or child? So, I am not going to look at this without taking any action.”

After the incident, DCOP Opare Addo said he came to Accra to meet the president but he was preparing to travel so he could not discuss the issue in detail with him but the president asked him to go back and work because he is not ready to replace him.

“I went to the office the next [after the incidence] but I am not in Kumasi now. I must be seen in the office because His Excellency the President when I went to his office, he told me to go and work because he wasn’t bringing anybody there. At the time, he said I should go and work and I’ll hear from him and that is exactly what I am going to do,” DCOP Opare Addo explained to Joy News on Tuesday, May 18, 2021.

The former Deputy Commissioner of Police said his visit to the Presidency was after he heard rumours that Captain (Rtd) Budu Koomson and some alleged members of the NPP’s Delta Force were trying to remove him from office and impose a different person on him as the Ashanti Regional security liaison officer.

“I wanted to see him [the President] on Friday, but he was very busy; I understood him, he was travelling on Sunday so he had to do a lot of things himself and I never bothered him with the issue there.

“I saw him when I heard that there were rumours that Budu Koomson and the other guys [Delta Force] I mentioned were trying to impose somebody on me at the time. I called Budu Koomson himself and told him about this and I’ll talk about that later,” DCOP Opare Addo said.

Meanwhile, the acting National Security Coordinator, Major General Francis Adu Amanfo (rtd), has dispelled claims by the embattled Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator that he was arrested and handcuffed by national security operatives while being forcefully removed from his office.

According to Major General Adu Amanfo (rtd), the account as narrated by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Opare Addo does not reflect the true happenings on the grounds.

He told journalists in Accra that his team who were deployed from Accra to make sure DCOP Opare Addo got out of office were rather handcuffed by officers of the Ashanti Regional Police Command who had been called by the DCOP Opare to handle the matter.

“He [Opare Addo] rather called for police reinforcement and got the team that had gone to mitigate the issues arrested and handcuffed, and not him Opare Addo. It was the team members from Accra that were handcuffed. He [Opare Addo] rather called the Regional Police Commander to come, and they came and arrested the team we had sent from Accra,” Major General Adu Amanfo explained.

Major General Adu Amanfo (rtd) defended the forceful removal of DCOP Opare Addo from office.

He claims the tenure of DCOP Opare Addo had expired but he has refused to vacate his post, adding that his contract was not renewed as a result of “non-performance and criminality”.

“The bottom line of all of this is that Opare Addo had a contract with National Security and for four years he was the regional liaison for the National Security. His term of the contract has expired. It was not renewed because of non-performance and his own criminal activities.”

“He had no locus to be in the office because a new officer had been appointed, and he should have handed over to the officer, and he says he won’t hand over. So that is why a team was sent from Accra to go and mitigate and facilitate the handing and takeover process,” he added.

Major General Adu Amanfo (Rtd.) said a committee has been instituted to probe the “vicious” allegations raised by the embattled Regional Security Coordinator.

When asked for further clarity on his claims of criminality against DCOP Opare Addo, the acting National Security Coordinator said those issues are under investigation.

“I will say most of these things are vicious, and I say so because I am very experienced in the military. I have served 37 years, being an Ambassador to Liberia, Mali, so I have seen it all. Most of these allegations are vicious, so we need to investigate them before I can make any serious statement. These issues are being investigated,” he stressed.

Source: www.ghanaweb.com