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Security agencies foils attempted coup in Ghana

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A joint security operation of personnel drawn from the Defence Intelligence, Criminal Investigations Department and Bureau of National Investigations on Friday, September 20, conducted a successful operation to neutralise an elaborate plot targeted at the Presidency, and with the ultimate aim of destabilising the country.

The operation led to the arrest of three persons and the retrieval of several arms, explosive devices and ammunition from locations in Accra and Bawaleshie.

A statement by the ministry of Information, Ghana, revealed that the arrest and seizure comes after 15 months of surveillance and gathering of evidence on the activities of the prime suspects and others.

The persons arrested in the operation are; Dr. Frederick Yao Mac-Palm and his two accomplices; Mr. Ezor Kafui (a local weapon manufacturer) and Mr Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu (aka BB or ADC).

Some of the items retrieved from the operation included; five locally manufactured pistols, with magazines fitted on them, a foreign pistol with registration number PX154006, three locally manufactured pistol barrels and three smoke grenades.

Others are; 22 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), 9 x 7.62mm NATO AK47 rounds, two AK47 magazines and a long Knife at Citadel Hospital, Alajo, a suburb of Accra.

The joint security personnel also uncovered the outlined plan for the intended operation as presented by some soldiers at one of their meetings at Next-Door Resort.

They also retrieved seven mobile phones, five tablets, two decoders, a modem, a Ghanaian passport, two pen-drives, a voice recorder, a USB connector, machines and materials for manufacturing weapons.

At Bawaleshie near Dodowa, the joint security personnel also retrieved 63 x 9mm NATO rounds.

The statement said surveillance on the activities of the persons involved in the planned coup d’etat commenced in June 2018, when Dr. Mac-Palm and Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu, started organising series of meetings at the Next-Door Beach Resort, in Teshie, and other locations in Accra, in furtherance of their objectives.

It said between June and August 2018, BB, acting for and on behalf of Dr. Mac-Palm, contacted a number of serving military personnel, and talked into hatching and executing a plot to obtain weapons, take over key installations, and secure funding for the purpose of taking over the reins of government.

The statement read: “In August 2018, Dr. Mac-Palm and two others, Kennedy Amoah and Dr. Albert Sam (Based in the USA) formed a group called “Take Action
Ghana” (TAG), under the guise of mobilising the youth for nation-building, education, health, and providing shelter to the needy.

“Available evidence showed the intent was to build a support base of youth and radicalise them against the political authority in Ghana.

“In furtherance of this scheme, Dr Mac-Palm contracted one Mr. Ezor from
Alavanyo to produce locally made weapons and Improvised Explosive
Devices (IEDs) for the operation.

“In July 2019, Mr. Ezor set up a workshop in a container, originally used as an X-Ray laboratory, at the premises of Citadel Hospital, and started producing the weapons and IEDs in-house.”

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