Ghana Arrests 3 In Suspected Ivory Coast Coup Plot
Authorities in Ghana have arrested three men for allegedly trying to buy arms for a planned coup in neighbouring Ivory Coast, where a wave o...
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Authorities in Ghana have arrested three men for allegedly trying to buy arms for a planned coup in neighbouring Ivory Coast, where a wave of violent attacks killed around 20 people last month, a local police chief said on Monday.
The Ivorian government has blamed allies of the country's former president Laurent Gbagbo, many of whom now live in exile in Ghana, of orchestrating the violence, which has raised fears of renewed unrest just a year after a civil war ended.
Deputy police commissioner Stephen Andoh-Kwofie said the men were arrested on Friday in the central coastal town of Cape Coast by undercover officers posing as arms dealers.
"We picked them up after they had bought AK-47 rifles from our men," he told reporters, adding that all three had admitted they were mobilising arms to overthrow the government of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
"It appears they came to Ghana purposely to secure arms for a coup d'etat against the Ouattara government and must have been doing so in league with others," said Andoh-Kwofie.
Two of the men are Ivorian nationals who had been working in a hotel after registering as refugees. Police said one of the two Ivorians is a former soldier who was also carrying a Malian passport when arrested, and the third man is a Ghanaian who had lived in Ivory Coast for more than two decades.
Deputy police commissioner Stephen Andoh-Kwofie said the men were arrested on Friday in the central coastal town of Cape Coast by undercover officers posing as arms dealers.
"We picked them up after they had bought AK-47 rifles from our men," he told reporters, adding that all three had admitted they were mobilising arms to overthrow the government of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara.
"It appears they came to Ghana purposely to secure arms for a coup d'etat against the Ouattara government and must have been doing so in league with others," said Andoh-Kwofie.
Two of the men are Ivorian nationals who had been working in a hotel after registering as refugees. Police said one of the two Ivorians is a former soldier who was also carrying a Malian passport when arrested, and the third man is a Ghanaian who had lived in Ivory Coast for more than two decades.
