Minority Caucus Slams EOCO's "Indefensible" Press Release Over MP's Attempted Arrest

• The Minority Caucus in Parliament, led by Alexander Afenyo-Markin, condemned EOCO's attempted arrest of Manhyia South MP Baffour Awuah at the Accra High Court as a dark day
• The Caucus tore into EOCO's press release point by point, questioning why the agency could not name the offence under investigation or produce a warrant for the attempted arrest
• The statement listed seven demands, including the immediate bail of detained nurse Salomey Bafoh and a full public account from the Interior and National Security Ministers

The incident stemmed from Awuah's role as legal counsel for Salomey Awiti Bafoh, a 40-year-old nurse from Hansua, Techiman, who has been in state custody since September 13 over her alleged role in circulating videos linked to the "Ghana Jollof" TikTok account.

She was arrested at night by the National Signals Bureau, held without access to her lawyers for days, and did not appear before a court until well beyond the constitutional 48-hour window.

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Shortly after Awuah argued for her bail at the Accra High Court, an EOCO official confronted him within the court's precincts and attempted to take him into custody.

The MP drove off from the scene, and EOCO later confirmed the attempted arrest in a statement citing two unanswered invitations from February 2026.

The confrontation quickly escalated into a wider political dispute, with the Minority Caucus issuing a detailed rebuttal hours later.

Minority links timing to illegal substance port investigation

The Minority's statement tied the timing of the attempted arrest directly to its ongoing push to recall Parliament over a string of illegal substance seizures linked to Ghana's ports, including a 3.9-tonne shipment intercepted in France on September 10.

It noted that Members had exceeded the constitutional threshold required to force a recall on September 18, and that Awuah, a signatory to that request, was among the Minority's leading voices on the issue.

The Caucus argued the state's attention should be on pursuing traffickers rather than the lawmakers asking how narcotics keep passing through Ghana's ports undetected.

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Minority caucus challenges EOCO's justification and lists demands

The statement picked apart EOCO's press release in detail, questioning why the agency rested its case on invitations issued seven months earlier and pressing it to disclose the offence under investigation, any warrant obtained, and the identity of the officer involved.

It also cited constitutional protections for MPs, including Article 117 and Standing Orders 24 and 25, arguing that any legal process against a Member should go through the Speaker rather than a courthouse confrontation.

The Caucus closed with seven demands, among them Bafoh's immediate bail, a public account from the Interior and National Security Ministers, and an independent CHRAJ investigation into her detention.

Below is the statement from the minority caucus shared on Facebook.

Baffour Awuah explains why he drove off

According to an earlier report by YEN.com.gh, Awuah told journalists the EOCO official could not produce an arrest warrant or verify her identity when she approached him, and that her insistence that he travel in their vehicle rather than his own deepened his suspicion of a state-sponsored kidnapping.

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He said his decision to drive away was shaped by his responsibilities as an MP, a member of the Minority Caucus, Bafoh's lawyer, and a family man.

Source: YEN.com.gh