Last week, two security agencies enacted a worrying spectacle at the Bosumtwe Sam Harbour in Takoradi which left behind a bitter taste in the palates of Ghanaians.
The Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) reportedly made a seizure of fuel over an illegality only for the seized stuff to be claimed by National Security operatives.
The claim did not end verbally but one enforced with the force of arms; the report that operatives of the National Security apparatus backed by armed soldiers stormed the point of seizure at the harbour to forcefully take away the seized stuff is reprehensible and should not be encouraged in this country in this day and age.
The claim that they were acting upon instructions from the top is an indication that their action was official something we can only take with a pinch of salt.
This is a serious issue and shows the lack of coordination between the National Security apparatus and the Customs Division.
That the engagement took place in the full glare of bystanders and even finding its way into the media is deflating.
We demand answers to the justifiable question as to what went wrong and who should be held responsible?
Such an unnecessary engagement should not have happened had the National Security apparatus dealt with the subject in a more meticulous manner.
If there are issues beyond our ken, this is the time the germane authorities should explain these to us.
We cannot have state agencies especially security ones openly as it were humiliating each other the way it was enacted last week.
Turning up at the scene with armed soldiers begs the question as to what the intention was. Did the armed soldiers intend to shoot had the Customs denied them access to the seized fuel?
If such rogue shows are not stopped one day some crazy irresponsible armed state actors would open fire on their counterparts simply performing their mandated duties.
There are no two ways about the fact that Customs officers understand the subject of what constitutes an illegality in the matter of smuggled fuel better than the national security operatives who went to the Takoradi harbour.
National security operatives have earned unenviable opprobrium in the country over the manner in which they undertake some of these operations.
The show of unnecessary brusqueness as some of them do is something which has not helped this critical security coordination apparatus of state.
We have observed for sometime the efforts taken to repair the damaged image of the National Security apparatus whose operatives on the ground have been engaged in acts which have sometimes left the public mesmerized and even befuddled.
That should not be the case. There are better ways of dealing with issues in society. By this commentary we demand a statement from the National Security Council about what went wrong especially since unconfirmed reports have it that the Customs Sector Commander, an Assistant Commissioner, abandoned her duty post following the harrowing treatment she suffered at the hands of the national security operatives but has since returned anyway.