VGMAs gun saga “distasteful”, “insane behaviour” – Security Consultant

Fraud and Security Consultant, Richard Kumadoe, has condemned the manner in which reggae and dancehall artiste Stonebwoy pulled a gun in the midst of a crowd at the recent Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs).

The 20th edition of the VGMAs nearly turned bloody in the early hours of Sunday, 19 May 2019 when fans of Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale engaged in near-fisticuffs over an award.

The confusion happened when Stonebwoy was announced as the Reggae Dancehall Artiste of the Year.

Shatta Wale and his fans approached the podium to, ostensibly congratulate Stonebwoy, but events turned chaotic resulting in a lot of pushing and shoving – a situation that prompted Stonebwoy to pull out his pistol.

The security officers at the event pepper-sprayed the stage in an attempt to prevent a full-blown fight.

Commenting on the development, Mr Kumadoe told ClassFMonline.com that the incident was “sad and distasteful” as minors could be watching and be oriented to the use of gun-related violence.

The CEO of Richquest Consult admonished the law enforcement agencies to “take the necessary actions in curbing this insane behaviour going forward and apply the appropriate sanctions where it deems fit”.

In his view, “the excesses of pulling out a gun in a crowded public space such as that could be disastrous not only to the target person but also to the crowd as well”.

Mr Kumadoe said it seems “one camp planned for revenge and they had the opportunity to showcase their machoism by boldly showing forth a weapon such as a gun”.

He wondered how systems could fail in detecting and preventing people from attending such public events with offensive weapons such as guns which could result in deadly consequences.

“As to how the gun and other weapons might have gotten into the hall its a simple case of access control failure which has severe and dangerous implications and repercussions for the musicians, the organisers, the event attendees and the nation as a whole,” he noted.

He admonished that “national security gets involved in such gathering of large crowds especially for national events such as VGMA and other related public events in ensuring that proper and personal security measures are adhered to without fail to safeguard lives and properties”.