A fetish priest who stormed Nima to stop a demolition exercise but got arrested has opened up about the incident which occurred on Tuesday, August 15.
Nii Odiasempa claims he heard that they were pulling down some buildings in the Nima community and decided to act.
According to him, his clan owns the Nima lands. Therefore, upon catching wind of the demolition, he got angry and consulted the ancestors.
He says they showed him what to do which is why he was seen at the site of the exercise clad in leaves and with a bottle of schnapp in hand.
According to him, no one had told them anything prior to the demolition and all they realised was their buildings being brought down.
“I went there when I got a call that a group of people had come around and demolishing structures so I went to the place very angry. So I consulted the ancestors and they showed me how to deal with the matter. I took a bottle of schnapps and leaves.
“When I got there, I called them – I wasn’t going to fight them but if it was about a fight, something bad may have happened because our ancestors have shown us that if there are many stones and you pour wine or water on it, it will burst into flames,” he said.
“We are all Ghanaians but when I got there, I wanted to teach them a lesson but I forgave them because of our maker,” he added.
However, he stated that when the Police urged him to keep his calm he was unaware that their vehicle was parked where he was directed towards.
“I was chanting and the police told me to take it easy – and told me to sit inside the vehicle. All of a sudden, they took me to the police station. We are all natives of Greater Accra and such an act is not good.”
The priest added that he wants the government and traditional council to know that Nima residents have been treated unfairly and cautioned all parties involved to be careful.
“We are Ghanaians and we don’t want anything bad to happen but what they [police] did yesterday – people didn’t like it and doesn’t speak well of them,” the fetish priest said.
He insisted the land belonged to their clan and they had documents to show for it.
“The land belongs to us and no one came to tell us anything, all of a sudden, we heard that there are police, soldiers and fire service personnel around and doing what they like.”
He explained that he was seen pouring alcohol on the demolition vehicles just to pave way for the rituals he had purposed until he was whisked away by the police, which came as a surprise to him because they accorded him with respect and he thought they were going to have a conversation with him.
This is why he returned the same respect and did not vanish, which he could have.