The Ghana Armed Forces has said the soldiers who were accused of assaulting a sixteen year old boy over allegations of a stolen phone, have been found guilty, and would be punished accordingly.
The victim, Christopher Bam, was severely battered by the military officers at Tamale in the Northern Region, for allegedly stealing a Tecno mobile phone.
[contextly_sidebar id=”Ps1lXll8sbVoei2NY4SZyHy3S9nSbKWa”]The victim has since been discharged by the Nsawam Government Hospital where he was receiving treatment.
The Chief of Defense Staff, Air Marshall Sampson Oje, said the Armed Forces arrived at this decision after thorough investigations into the matter.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra today [Friday], he also intimated that the court of law was avoided in this matter to prevent the possibility of any out of court settlement.
“Most of the time they go to court, they find a way of talking to the family and then they say it is resolved but we will still punish them.”
Air Marshall Oje also revealed the matter has now been forwarded to the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ).
“For those in Tamale, CHRAJ has come into the equation now and I know any day from now, the commander will be invited to go in there and I will give him all his documents.”
But Air Marshall Oje was not very clear what form of punishment would be meted out to the soldiers by the Ghana Armed Forces.
“The guys are guilty and we are waiting to punish them,” he stated.
Victim in need of psychiatric help
The lawyer for the victim, Francis Xavier Sosu, said the victim had been referred to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to undergo some physical and psychiatric tests to facilitate his recovery.
According to him, the victim’s physical condition appears to be stable and that he was responding to treatment; but he will need help to deal with the trauma from the attack.
“The reason he was referred was because he was still showing signs of some form of disorder so we are hoping that once we undergo some form of psychiatric treatment, and some form of psychiatric care at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, we should be sure that he should return to normal.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana