Former Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has criticised what he describes as a disturbing overreach by officials of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), following a dramatic attempt to arrest Assin South MP, Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, at his Spintex residence in Accra—without a court-issued warrant.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, the Bimbilla MP recounted how he was alerted by a colleague that the MP’s home had been surrounded by operatives “suspected to be from the NIB.”
“I got a call from one of my colleagues that the ranking member on Defence and Interior’s house had been surrounded by people suspected to be from the NIB, ostensibly to arrest him. A lot of police officers. I counted over 15 of them,” he said.
Mr. Nitiwul, who served as Defence Minister until January, said he rushed to the scene, initially struggling to believe that such a development could occur in the capital.
“I just thought I should go there and find out. Also, being the immediate past Defence Minister, I thought I was one of the people who could calm situations down if there was a need,” he explained.
Upon arrival, he recognised several officials involved in the operation.
“Truly, when I got there, I knew a lot of the principal officers who were there. I’ve worked with some of them before.”
However, what shocked him most was the justification given by one of the operatives for proceeding without legal backing.
“The first question I asked was: do you have a warrant? They said no,” Mr. Nitiwul recounted.
“In fact, the gentleman who led the operation actually said that he’s a senior person. That alone is enough. For him, his face is a warrant by itself.”
Mr. Nitiwul condemned the statement, describing it as both dangerous and unlawful.
“We had a lot of lawyers there who clearly disagreed and told them that you cannot say just because you are a senior person within the NIB, your face alone is a warrant to arrest a Member of Parliament—or any other citizen, for that matter. They all have rights.”
He acknowledged that while police officers may act based on reasonable suspicion, the events at the MP’s residence did not meet that threshold.
“If the police come and say they have reasonable suspicion and, based on that, are arresting you—that’s a different matter. But we asked a simple question: do you have an arrest warrant to arrest him? They said no.”
The former Minister also questioned the conduct and appearance of some of the operatives, noting that many were not in uniform and had their faces covered.
“They were there with the police. But those who came and we met—the leadership—were NIB officials. They were not in police uniforms. A lot of them had their faces covered. For whatever reason, I cannot tell why they did that,” he said.
Mr. Nitiwul expressed disappointment that individuals he once worked with—and even entrusted with sensitive assignments—could be involved in such an act.
“There are some things that I would not have expected that they would do,” he said. “But be as it may, it was really true when I got there that the NIB had actually sent people to the place.”
He emphasised that no individual, regardless of rank or position, should act above the law.
“Nobody’s face is a warrant in this country.”
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