Another Gun Battle Averted Between Police And SSS At Natl Confab

But for the discipline exhibited by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), the National Judicial Institute (NJI), the venue of the ongoing National Conference, would have been turned into a battle field  as the policemen attached to some delegates  Wednesday  threatened to shoot any DSS operatives who attempted to  prevent their principals from driving into the restricted areas at the conference.

Also threatened were personnel of the National Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC), who alongside some DSS operatives, manned a security post at the conference.

As part of security checks, delegates were required to alight from their vehicles at a drop-off point and walk down to their committee rooms, but usually, policemen attached to some of the delegates, specifically the former Inspector General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Coomasie, had breached the order even as their principals watched.

The situation had already attracted a warning letter from the Secretary of the conference, Dr. Valerie Azinge, warning delegates against breaching security.

The situation, which had persisted for weeks, boiled over yesterday when a policemen attached to Coomasie challenged DSS operatives who stopped their boss from breaching the security beacon.

While the DSS operatives remained calm, the former IG’s aides pulled off the security beacon and drove him through to their preferred drop-off point against protocol.

Earlier, policemen attached to a traditional ruler from the North, acted in a similar manner raising tension between the services at the conference.

A DSS official who was involved in the drama informed journalists  on anonymity that for restraint, blood would have flown and the conference would have been disrupted.
“Any shoot out here would have disrupted the conference. If not, who are they to threaten us with guns?” he asked.

The matter, which had been reported to the conference secretariat, had elicited a letter from Azinge to delegates in which she warned against the consequences of breaching security beacons and protocols.

In the letter titled: ‘Security Notification’, Azinge, informed the delegates of the rising attempt to breach security by their aides and the need to call them to order.

“This is to bring to the notice of all delegates of the National Conference that some delegates have adopted the habit of breaching security arrangements put in place to ensure safety and orderliness of the conference participants.

“To this end, it is necessary to remind delegates and other participants of the existing security procedures during the period of the National Conference at NJI,” Azinge wrote in the letter, reminding them that “conference delegates are strictly advised to use the designated parking lots assigned to each category of delegates and desist from parking indiscriminately on the lawns, roads and areas cordoned off for security reasons.”

She also told them that “personal aides of delegates are barred from the hall especially during plenary except on the grounds of disability,” while also warning that delegates are “strictly advised to use the proper access door for security checks before entering the conference room for plenary.”

Azinge also said: “Delegates are advised to always put on their access tags and cooperate with security operatives to ensure their safety during the period of the conference.”

Urging them to bear whatever inconvenience the security procedures at the conference might entail, Azinge reminded the delegates that it was all in their interest,

She advised that those with special needs should approach the security office for assistance rather than breach protocol.