You have every right to shoot and kill anyone in a mask who enters your house to arrest you – Lawyer to Rev. Ntim Fordjour
Vice President of IMANI Africa and legal practitioner, Kofi Bentil, has stated that it is unlawful for individuals to invade private homes masked and armed under the guise of effecting an arrest.
According to him, such actions may amount to kidnapping and citizens have the right to defend themselves, even with firearms, under such circumstances.
Speaking in an interview on Joy News on April 10, 2025, Bentil referenced a recent incident involving masked officers believed to be from the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) who stormed the residence of the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin South, Rev Ntim Fordjour.
The officers were reportedly attempting to arrest the MP who also serves as the Minority’s Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament.
Bentil condemned the action as illegal and cautioned against such tactics by state security operatives.
“If you live in your house, there are so many rights that one has, your personal right to freedom, the right to privacy, the right to defend yourself, your family, and your property. If someone breaches those rights, the person must have a warrant, authorization to breach your fundamental, constitutional, and human rights,” he said.
“If that person does not have such authorization and proceeds to breach it, it can mean many things. Listen, if you are in your house and someone tries to break in, you have the right under Article 14 to protect yourself, your property, and your family in every way that is reasonable, including the use of a firearm. It is written in our constitution,” he added.
In a separate post on social media, Bentil further asserted, “If a masked person tries to arrest you, you have a right in law to resist it. It could be a kidnapping!
“If masked people try to enter your house, you have a constitutional right to shoot to kill in your defense! See Article 13(2)(a).”
The attempted arrest of MP Ntim Fordjour failed after members of the Minority in Parliament along with some leaders of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) rushed to his residence to intervene and prevent the NIB operatives from proceeding with the arrest.
This development follows allegations made by the MP during a press conference on April 1, 2025 where he claimed that two flights, an air ambulance and a private jet, may have been involved in drug trafficking or money laundering.
According to Rev Fordjour, one of the aircraft, AirMED flight N823AM, landed in Ghana on March 20, 2025 and remained for five days without any documented medical patient on board, raising suspicions.
In response, President John Dramani Mahama directed all security agencies to “immediately and fully collaborate” with the MP to investigate the allegations.
He emphasized that Ghana maintains a zero-tolerance policy on drug trafficking and would not allow the nation to become a conduit for illicit drugs.
The President also urged the agencies to take necessary action to uncover any drug-related operations linked to the flights and to ensure full transparency in the investigations.
