14 Members of Western Togoland Secessionists Group Arrested in the Volta Region
A group of fourteen (14) people have been arrested in Kpando Aziave in the Volta Region.
They were arrested at a meeting where security agents suspected they were discussing secessionist strategies.
The men and women were suspected to be members or affiliates of the Homeland Study Group Foundation, a secessionist group with its strongholds in the Volta Region. The group has been propagating the formation of Western Togoland as a breakaway state from Ghana.
The suspects were made up of eleven (11) males and three (3) females.
They were initially sent to the Kpando District Police station but were later transferred and will be handed over to the Volta Regional Police Headquaters in Ho for further investigation after which they will be arraigned before court.
The operation was carried out by men from the 66 Artillery Regiment in Ho who said they gathered intelligence and were also tipped off by the Bureau of National Investigation.
Speaking to the media at the Police Headquaters, the Second-In-Command at the 66 Artillery Regiment, Major Jelali Din Ibrahim said the suspects numbered around eighteen but they got fourteen of them, adding “some managed to escape”.
Detailing the arrest, he said, “This morning around 0800 hours we got information that some members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation were holding a meeting at Kpando-Aziavi. We got this information from the BNI, so immediately we teamed up with them. I sent about three patrols out to go and verify and if it is true then we take the appropriate action. Lo and behold, they went and met the people having their meeting and so they picked them up.”
He also said that they have documents they will hand over to the appropriate quarters as evidence on their plans.
“We have some evidence and documents of intelligence of military value, very important documents which show their intentions and plans, so we have picked those plans up.” – he said
He further stated that “the suspects were there in the meeting to strategize on their activities of how to achieve their intentions in the Volta Region and Oti Region”.
Major Ibrahim, in concluding, sent a strong warning to individuals and groups in the region and advised them to desist from fomenting troubles adding, “We will not give them a breathing space”.
Activities and arrests of members of the Homeland Study Group Foundation (led by an 80-year-old Mr Charles Kormi Kudzordzi, popularly known as Papavi) have been in the news of late in the country.
The group is seeking independence of a demarcated area stretching from the Volta Region through the Northern regions.
They claim to have been in possession of certain documents which clearly state and support the creation of a sovereign state, carved out of modern-day Ghana, stressing that the area was not supposed to be part of the country.
In recent times, they were arrested for holding secret meetings and a number of charges were leveled against them.
Quite recently, they declared Western Togoland an independent state. Since then, their top leaders have been in hiding with the security agencies being on the lookout for them.
