The Commanding Officer for the 4th Infantry Battalion, Lt. Col. Kwesi Ware Peprah, has disclosed that the kneeling posture of the soldier during the Ejura protest is acceptable.
Speaking as he faced the tripartite committee on the Ejura killings, he explained that the posture is part of the standard operating procedure the security agencies use in tackling protests.
He intimated that the soldier who was captured kneeling and aiming his gun at protesting youth at Ejura did not fire live rounds directly at the protestors.
According to him, the soldier only knelt and aimed the gun as a way of scaring the protestors. He also noted that none of the soldiers who knelt fired directly at the protestors.
“As a matter of fact,;the direction of the man who knelt was such that no casualty came from that side. He didn’t fire. He fired only warning shots, but when he went down, he did not fire.”
Col. Kwesi Peprah
His explanation comes against the initial reports that suggested that the gunshots fired that killed two of the protesters came from the military officers who knelt.
Military involvement was right
Also facing the tripartite committee,;Brigadier General Joseph Aphour averred that the decision to involve the military to calm the situation was right. He also backed the Ashanti Regional Ministers’ assertion that more lives could have been lost if that did not happen and also opposed suggestions that the military shouldn’t be involved in civilian protests.
“If not for what we did together with the police in Ejura,;I can bet you that there would have been more deaths to civilians than security alive or; the chairman of REGSEC didn’t give good judgement and I believe the judgement he gave by inviting us to intervene was the right one.
“The committee should add in their report that the military should be called upon in situations like this. If not, there will be a time that we will be in a serious crisis and the military won’t intervene.”
Col. Kwesi Peprah
Protestors fired gunshots
The Brigadier General said its personnel were compelled to fire during the Ejura disturbances after gunshots were fired from among the protesters.
According to the Brigadier General Joseph Aphour,; the officers initially gave verbal warnings to the demonstrators when they arrived at the scene but the protesters did not pay heed. He added that the military arrested two people with weapons and handed them over to the Police.
He further said based on the briefing given to him by his officers on the field, the warning shots were to scare the protesters, but in the process, some protesters also returned fire.
Brigadier General Joseph Aphour however added that they fired to counter those who fired at the security personnel on the grounds and not to kill them.
He further stated that the military did not carry tear gas along with them;in their effort to drive away the protestors
