The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has questioned the rationale behind the arrest and detention of Dennis Miracles Aboagye, stating there is no record that he impeded investigations or refused to cooperate with EOCO.

EOCO arrested the NPP communicator over the weekend on his arrival at the Accra International Airport from a trip abroad and has since kept him in detention. 

The arrest has sparked strong reactions from democracy and civil society actors.

On Monday, July 13, following public outcry demanding reasons for the arrest, EOCO issued a statement detailing the reasons for the operation.

But responding to the statement, Braimah has faulted EOCO stressing the institution is abusing its powers.

He described EOCO’s reasons for the arrest as “unjustifiable”.

“While I fully support anti-corruption actions by state law enforcement bodies, I want such actions to be fair and decorous. Anti-corruption law enforcement actions that have a semblance of show of force or abuse of power are non-progressive,” Braimah wrote on his Facebook page.

He added; “Now, the EOCO statement doesn’t say EOCO had been searching for Miracles without finding him. It doesn’t say Miracles had been declared wanted. It doesn’t say Miracles had gone into hiding. It doesn’t say Miracles had flouted any court order not to travel out of the country. It doesn’t say Miracles had refused to attend EOCO invitations. It doesn’t say the investigations had reached a stage where Miracles needed to be stopped and arrested immediately wherever he was found.”

Braimah further questioned why EOCO chose to arrest Miracles Aboagye on his arrival. 

“If he needed to be arrested immediately, why couldn’t EOCO wait to do so the next day?” he asked.

He stressed the importance of investigating, prosecuting, and recovering every “looted state fund” but cautioned that the process “must be fair and must not create avenues for legitimate accusations of show of force or abuse of power”.