A security analyst Col. Festus Aboagye has advised the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) to request the assistance of state security agencies to deal with alleged sabotage on some properties of the company.
The Head of Security at GRIDCo, Major Lawrence Appiah (RTD) on Tuesday threatened that his team will shoot to kill anyone found to be tampering with their facilities.
Speaking to Citi News, Col. Aboagye explained that GRIDCO does not have the power to shoot to kill and can only seek the assistance of the police and the military if the attacks persist.
“The powers to use force to the extent of lethality to kill does not reside in GRIDCo. I don’t think GRIDCo, as established, has an armed unit. The argument should have been that, if this trend continues, to the extent that it becomes serious and undermines National Security, then GRIDCo would appeal to the state or police to allow the police to come in and give them the powers they may be able to shoot to kill the so-called saboteurs.|”
We’ll not hesitate to ‘shoot to kill’ saboteurs – GRIDCo security
The warning follows a recent attempt by some unscrupulous persons to burn pipelines in the Tema power enclave and the cutting down of a pylon belonging to GRIDCo within the last two weeks.
Major Lawrence Appiah (Rtd) said the necessary security measures are being put in place to deal with any threat that could impact power supply.
“We want to tell those who are doing this, because they do not want the good of Ghana, to be very careful in what they intend to do. We are ready with the soldiers. We know the rules of engagement but we will not hesitate if the arrest will not work; to shoot to kill because Ghana must succeed.”
Fix ‘dumsor’; don’t blame it on ‘damaged’ power installations – IES to gov’t
The Institute of Energy Security (IES), had accused the Energy Ministry of seeking to create a false impression over the destruction of some power installations within the Tema enclave.
According to the Institute, the pipeline that was nearly torched in Tema was filled with water and not gas, hence the suggestion that its destruction could affect power supply is inaccurate.
IES in a statement asked the Ministry to render an unqualified apology to the people of Ghana.
“We call on the Ministry of Energy to apologize for deceiving Ghanaians into believing that pipelines under construction and filled with raw water are part of the accessories to the power sector installations and that the destruction to the GRIDCo tower is a contributory factor to the recent Dumsor.”
IES in the statement also asked the Ministry to provide prove its claim that the recent developments are as a result of the activities of political saboteurs.
“The Ministry of Energy must desist from peddling further falsehood and compromising the work of the state security agencies in their quest to apprehend the criminals engaged in the act of vandalism. And that if it is privy to any political sabotage, the Ministry must make its evidence available to the agencies tasked to unravel such circumstances.”
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Source: Citinewsroom.com
