The national service registration centre at La Dade-Kotopon Municipal Assembly, LADMA, was a scene of military brutality on Monday as security personnel subjected would be service personnel to severe physical assault.
A video circulating on social media shows a soldier, supposed to maintain order at the registration centre going on the rampage with a huge baton, hitting and wounding anyone in his path.
The Facebook user, Safo Kwaning, who posted the video added that the registration process “ was marred by several cases of physical abuse by security personnel, the usual long queues and the verbal abuses and insolence by personnel of the Secretariat all because some other Ghanaians have been told to 'serve' their country.â€
He continued that a young lady was severely beaten by the security officer to the extent she bled profusely.
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Meanwhile, reports reaching primenewsghana indicate persons registering for the 2017/2018 service period in many parts of the country are being subjected to various forms of abuse and extortion from officials of the National Service Scheme.
Some people from Sunyani who spoke with primenewsghana said the scheme managers are refusing to accept passport photos from personnel, as done at all other centres. The officials are rather directing them to a photographer on the premises, who is charging almost twice the usual fee for the passport photo.
Speaking in an interview with primenewsghana, Public Relations Officer of the National Service Secretariat in Accra, Ambrose Entsiwah Junior said his attention has been drawn to the brutalities and steps have been taken to ensure it does not recur.
He said the Executive Director and other senior officials of the secretariat visited the LADMA centre following the reports and have cautioned the security personnel to desist from acts that will endanger the lives of would be personnel carrying out their registration.
The PRO continued that the registration exercise is biometric and does not require personnel to submit passport pictures. It would, therefore, be wrong for NSS officials to demand or ask personnel to pay for a passport photo as part of the registration exercise.
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