Military raid secret training camp; 30 "combatants" arrested

Security agencies in the Volta Region have remained, tight-lipped on the arrest which was effected by the military 'Om Accra.

Sources at the well-known fishing village of Dzemeni told the Daily Graphic that for the past four months, news had made the rounds that some unidentified young men had set up a camp at Dzemeni to train people in weapon handling and fighting.

According to the source, the training usually began from 10pm and lasted till about 2 a.m.

When contacted, the Assembly Member for the area, Mr George Bada Lotsoo, confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic in Ho.

He said about three weeks ago a certain security official came to him and said that he had been observing some unusual activity in the area and asked whether he (assembly member) was aware of it.

Mr Bada Lotsoo said he answered in the negative but the security officer told him to keep the information to himself while he undertook further investigation to ascertain what exactly was going on.

Not quite long after, Mr Bada Lotsoo said, the security officer came back to him with the information that he, together with another officer, had hidden in the bush to witness the training session of the group.

According to him, the group used car batteries as their sources of light, spoke languages that were alien to the people of the area and engaged in hand-to-hand combat training, as well as the handling of special weapons.

The security officer, he said, together with his colleague hid in the bush and witnessed the training session till they closed after 2 a.m.

Then just last Friday at midnight, gunshots were heard, he said, and when they drew closer to the scene of the gunshots, a special deployment of soldiers had stormed the area and arrested the trainees, as well as people who were on unregistered motorbikes in the area.

According to Mr Bada Lotsoo, the people were taken to an unknown destination in Accra and later, those who were considered not to be part of the trainees were released after interrogation.

The headman of the Dzemeni community, Togbe Amenyedzi Gati, also confirmed the story to the Daily Graphic but added that though the information he was given pointed to the fact that the people were foreigners, they were clearly working with some locals.

"But so far, none of the residents in the area has come to me to complain that any member of their family or people they know were part of those who have been arrested," he stressed.

When contacted, the Volta Regional Minister, Mr Henry Ford Kamel, who is also the Chairman of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC), confirmed the issue and said they had been monitoring the situation for some time now to know what exactly was going on and who was behind it.

He said after satisfying themselves with adequate information, they proceeded to arrest them for questioning in Accra.

He said those who were arrested were mainly of foreign origin and added that investigations were ongoing.

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