By Perdita AGYARKO
The black sedan idling near the Techiman market on Wednesday didn’t look like a threat—until the men inside stepped out, badge-less and unyielding, to take Madam Salome Bafoo.
Her crime? Possessing a face that state security operatives allegedly mistook for a wanted woman known only as “Jollof.”
As media personnel, our duty is clear: we serve as an uncompromising check on the ruling party, keeping power on its toes and holding those in authority accountable when they trample on civil liberties.
When Madam Salome was forced into that vehicle, forcibly torn from her crying four-year-old child, and driven nine hours away to Accra, it wasn’t just a legal overreach—it was an outright assault on human dignity.
Worse still, Madam Salome is not an isolated casualty. Reports indicate a chilling pattern of state-sponsored paranoia where ordinary women are being profiled, targeted, and snatched simply because operatives suspect they might be “Ghana Jollof.”
This isn’t law enforcement; it is a systematic campaign of intimidation and a gross violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed to every citizen.
State security agencies like the Signals Bureau answer to the ruling government. The Constitution mandates
strict, legal procedures for any arrest: a clear warrant, immediate disclosure of charges, right to legal counsel, and total transparency regarding detention. Yet days later, Madam Salome’s family and lawyers remain entirely in the dark. She has been effectively erased into the secret machinery of state power.
Her legal team has rightfully named this atrocity for what it is: an abduction by state security agencies.
We voted for protection, not for state-sanctioned abductions.
We gave the ruling government power to safeguard our families, not to unleash secret operatives who rip nursing mothers away from their children on mere suspicion.
The ruling party must answer for this escalating violence against civil freedoms. We demand immediate transparency, full legal access for Madam Salome Bafoo and all other unlawfully detained victims, and an immediate end to this reckless dragnet.
The press will not remain silent while state power turns against the very people it was sworn to protect.
