ALL YOUR MESSAGES AND POSTS – I HAVE NOTICED THEM ALL – BUT…

DSP ALHAJI BAWAH ABDUL JALIL

Your messages, tags, video vlogs, I have seen them. Your posts and blogs, I have read them. Your radio comments, I have heard of them all, but…

In the last few days and weeks, my phone has not stopped ringing. My WhatsApp, my inbox, my tags on Facebook, TikTok and all platforms — you have been calling for the return of the IGP Special Operations Team that you affectionately call “the Black Maria” to Tamale and the Northern Region.

Your calls have come because crime has escalated again. Drug peddling and drug abuse among our youth is rising, and most painfully, we are hearing reports of murders that have thrown families into grief and fear. I have taken notice of all of it.

First, let me say a very big thank you. Thank you to every youth leader, every mother, every elder, every chief, every colleague who called, texted, or tagged me asking for our return. Your trust in my team and in my leadership humbles me deeply. You saw our work, you felt it in your communities, and you appreciated it.

But I must speak to you with the honesty and discipline of a police officer.

I do not have the power to return to Tamale on my own.

As a police officer, I do not operate on social media pressure, nor on popular requests. I operate on orders. I work under strict instructions and command.

It was an order that brought me and my dedicated team to Tamale. It was the same order that took us out of Tamale. And it will only be an order that can bring us back.

I cannot refuse a lawful order to return to serve my people, but as a professional officer who knows that terrain, who bled with that terrain, and who understands the complexities of that terrain, I reserve the right as a professional to advise my superiors appropriately on whether my return is operationally sound and in the best interest of the Service and the people.

My people, I love you. When we were in Tamale, with very little resources but with a lot of heart and commitment, we did our best for you. We chased the criminals out of the ghettos, we seized the drugs, we restored some calm to your nights. When we were leaving that jurisdiction, I told you something that I repeat today: “I believe posterity will judge our work fairly, and judge my people too, in a manner that the whole world will see.”

Admittedly, like all such operations globally, ours was not perfect and there were some excesses. However, we chalked up moderately respectable, quantifiable, measurable, visible and verifiable successes to the admiration of discerning observers and the good people of our beloved region.

It was not for nothing that Al Jazeera deemed it appropriate to interview my team for their widely published documentary.

Suffice to add that during our four-month duty tour, through the arrest and prosecution of suspects, my team secured *One Million and Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GH¢1,050,000.00)* into the account of the Judiciary — a first of its kind in the history of that jurisdiction, and a clear demonstration of our commitment and passion to keep the region safe.

Furthermore, the sale and consumption of illicit drugs became scarce, a sharp contrast to what pertained when we arrived in Tamale. Children who had left home for months and, in some cases years, due to drug addiction, returned to their families, bringing joy and relief to parents who saw their children again.

It is unfortunate that certain individuals were used to stage and push a particular narrative, painting the IGP Special Operations Team under my leadership as evil, while completely ignoring all the achievements we recorded within our four months of operations.

Today, neither those individuals nor their associates are still demanding justice over the very issue for which they called for the dissolution of the former Black Maria team and my removal as Commander.

Today posterity is speaking, and I dare say it is exacting its judgment on the conscience of those who worked against me and my team.

And to those who orchestrated, lobbied and celebrated the removal of the Black Maria team from the Northern Region — I ask you in all sincerity, from the depths of my heart: Are you happy? Are you proud of the security situation in Tamale and the Northern Region today?

When you fought for us to leave, what future did you envision for the young people now lost to tramadol and hard drugs? What did you envision for the innocent lives now cut short? Is this the peace you promised our people? Let your conscience answer you.

For now, I am content and committed to my current assignment at the Ghana Police Academy as the Director in charge of Physical Training and Sports, where I am doing my best to train and shape the future senior officers of the Ghana Police Service. It is an honour to build the next generation.

Once again, to my beloved people of Tamale and the North, I am deeply touched by your calls, but I cannot return on my own volition. If an instruction comes, I will consider it as a professional officer.

May God protect Tamale. May God protect the Northern Region. May God protect Ghana.

Thank you.

DSP BAWAH ABDUL JALIL

COMMANDER – FORMER IGP SPECIAL OPERATIONS TEAM (BLACK MARIA)

DIRECTOR, PHYSICAL TRAINING & SPORTS – GHANA POLICE ACADEMY