JoyNews cannot independently confirm the figures, but Alhassan Abukari, the assemblyman for the Sambu Electoral Area, confirmed the deaths.

Mr Abukari stated that the disturbance stemmed from a dispute over a parcel of land. The Regent of Mion, Alhassan Abdulia Mahamadu, had allocated the land for a mechanisation centre.

However, when attempts were made to clear the land for construction, some community members resisted, leading to violence.

Mr Abukari mentioned that the police had earlier attempted to resolve the issue but were unsuccessful.

“I called the police in the morning, and we went there, but we could not solve the issue, so they left,” he told JoyNews.

He added that the people of Zogbee claimed they were farming on the land, but the land was found to be fallow.

“The people said they were farming on the land, but when we visited, it was not being farmed, and the police can confirm that,” he added.

The Sambu Assemblyman reported that gunshots were later heard in the community, resulting in the deaths.

The District Chief Executive for Mion, Mahama Samuel, confirmed one death and mentioned that he saw the body while returning from a community visit.

He arranged for the body to be moved to Yendi Hospital and later received reports of two additional bodies found.

Mr Mahama stated that the military and police have been deployed to the area, with more reinforcements expected.

Earlier in the day, residents expressed fear that the attacks could escalate if security forces were not present and active in the community.

In the late hours of Tuesday, April 30, Nana Ben, who doubles as the Gyasehene of Millinneum City allegedly opened fire on the vehicle containing three officers, killing one instantly.

The deceased was shot behind the wheels of his private Toyota  RAV4 car with registration number GR 3591-24.

According to Adom News’ Seth Kofi Adjei who followed the story, the dispute stemmed from a land tussle between the deceased military officer and some alleged illegal developers.

As the officers proceeded to the regional command to lodge a complaint, an eyewitness who spoke to Adom News said Benlord threatened to deal with them if they do not stop pursuing the land and police case.

As his threats went unanswered, he reportedly trailed them from behind and opened fire at the car.

He reportedly shot the deceased who was driving about 7 times in the head and chest area, causing the car to crush into a gutter.

The colleague officers managed to flee the scene.

The wounded officer was rushed to the mother and child hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Meanwhile, the body of the deceased has been deposited at the 37 military hospital.

Two other officers narrowly escaped death after a sub-chief allegedly opened fire on them in front of the district police station

The incident stemmed from a long-standing dispute over land ownership. It was reported that the brother of one of the military officers had purchased land on behalf of the officers.

However, attempts to develop the land were consistently thwarted by a group led by an alleged land guard.

In a bid to find a resolution, the deceased officer and his companions visited the disputed land, only to find another group already working on it.

Despite their attempts to restore calm and seek intervention from the police, tensions escalated.

According to the alleged landowner, the officers decided to lodge another complaint at the Millennium City District Police Command.

However, upon learning that their initial complaint had been forwarded to the Central East Regional Police Command, they set off to follow up on the matter.

As they departed for the regional police command, the sub chief reportedly attempted to stop them. When the officers refused to comply, he allegedly drew a pistol and opened fire on their vehicle.

Tragically, one officer was fatally wounded, while the others narrowly escaped harm.

Kofi Asmah, the owner of 21st Century Construction Company, who sold the land in question, has accused the police at Millennium City of failing to address the situation effectively due to alleged corruption within their ranks.

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The chief, Nana Kwame Mebo and two others including his brother were killed in a what is alleged to be a renewed land dispute on Saturday.

Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, Francis Mebo who witnessed the incident said they were on the farm when the incident happened.

He alleged that the assailants were a group of Konkombas who the chief had given part of their lands as a settlement area when they arrived in the town.

According to him, the group has, however, over the years, engaged the indigenes in several disputes with an attempt to wrestle more lands, a matter which has been pending in the court.

The deceased chief, he indicated, had organised a communal labour which attracted about 22 residents to raise yam mounds on their lands.

“Some of our wives who were bringing us food on the farm were first attacked with all the food they were carrying getting damaged. So it was through that the alarm was raised but before we could escape, our attackers, unknown to us, laid ambushed and overpowered us.

“They fired gunshots indiscriminately during which my brother was shot in the leg with the chief and another person killed,” he narrated.

Francis added he and a few others managed to escape the violent clashes but the attackers pursued them into the town and shot one more person who has been hospitalised.

They also vandalised and burnt properties as well as raided the late chief’s house and made away with his ornaments, cloth and other valuables.

“We couldn’t call the Police because they are far from the town and due to our bad roads, they couldn’t have made it on time but we have contacted the DCE with measures underway to tighten security,” he said.

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Three of the injured are from Awutu Bereku while the remaining four are from Gomoa Akraman.

The Awutu Bereku residents are receiving treatment at the Winneba Trauma and Specialist Hospital while those from Gomoa Akraman are also receiving treatment at Akraman.

In an interview with Adom News, some Akraman victims claimed the Awutu Bereku faction invaded their land and in their bid to stop them, they got attacked and had to retaliate.

Alhaji Dawood from the Awutu Bereku faction denied the allegations levelled against them by Gomoa Akraman.

He claimed they were working on the land for a customer, adding the Akraman residents rather attacked them with guns.

Alhaji Dawood indicated the deceased was part of his team.

Residents of Gomoa Akraman say they are now living in fear and accused the people of Awutu Bereku of using dubious ways to take their land which they will not allow.

Meanwhile, the Central Regional Police Command has arrested four persons who are assisting in investigations while the dead body has been conveyed to the Police Hospital.

The suspect, who is a New Patriotic Party polling station chairman, allegedly shot his wife identified simply as Sister Adwoa in the presence of other family members.

Information gathered indicated that a little misunderstanding ensued between Mr Seidu and his two wives about a piece of land he decided to sell some weeks ago.

The matter was revisited and the wives disagreed with his decision to sell off the property and reported to the Danyame zongo chief, Nana Mazua, for settlement.

It was at the palace that the suspect retrieved a gun and shot his second wife dead.

Assembly Member for the area, Frederick Nyamekye, who spoke to Adom News revealed angry community members almost lynched the suspect but for the intervention of the Tepa district police.

And the suspect has been admitted at the Tepa government hospital for treatment under police surveillance

The body of the deceased has been deposited at the hospital’s morgue.

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This ensued between the Konkombas and Anufors on Monday over a parcel of land.

Scores of residents have been displaced following the incident while others have also fled in search of safety at Gushegu and neighbouring communities.

Adom News‘ Illiasu Abdul Rauf reports security personnel have been deployed to restore calm in the area.

The Regional Minister, Yidana Zakaria, is also expected to visit the community with a team from the National Disaster Management Organisation to access the situation and how best they can support the victims.

Residents of Dawhenya have threatened to fight military and police personnel for destroying property on their lands.

According to the residents who spoke on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem Friday, the service personnel had been pestering them since 2016 but they managed to stop them.

However, in the second week of January this year, the service personnel reappeared on the land with evidence from court, claiming the land belongs to a company called Ronnie company, the residents have reported.

Following this claim, it was reported that the owners of the land, the Arden Darpoh family, decided to take the issue to court in Tema.

Shockingly, the company, despite the case being in court, went to the land and destroyed the property.

Following the incident, the Arden family has threatened to take the law into their own hands if the court does not see to the issue at hand and resolve it.

The Arden family has reported that the destruction of property by the service personnel surfaced again today, April 1, 2022.

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The Odoitso Okoikwao family filed the suit with the case that the land is their ancestral land which was reaffirmed by a High Court decision in 1958.

The family accused the defendants of selling the lands to private individuals and entities without any recourse to them.

“The first and second defendants have made huge sums of money from the sale of the plaintiff’s family land and are still in the process of alienating more of same to the third parties,” the plaintiff averred

Reliefs

The plaintiff is seeking a declaration from the court to the effect that they are the owners of the land which forms part of their ancestral lands.

They also want a further declaration that GACL and GCAA are not the owners of the land and, therefore, have no legal or equitable interest in the land.

Also, it is seeking an “order or perpetual injunction restraining GACL and GCAA, their agents, assigns, workmen or otherwise, however, described, from interfering with the plaintiff’s lands”

The family also wants the court to award damages against GACL and GCAA for trespass, as well as an order for costs and order for the defendants to render accounts on all the land sold.

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Defence

The defendants have denied all the averments by the plaintiff and have mounted a defence that the land in question does not belong to the Odoitso Okoikwao family.

According to the GACL, the land was compulsorily acquired by the colonial government on September 1, 1944, to be used as an airfield as part of the British’s efforts towards the Second World War.

“The compulsory acquisition was necessitated when upon the outbreak of the Second World War and the recognition of West Africa’s advantageous position, Accra Airport was identified as a strategic staging-post for a reinforcement of Allied Forces for which reason more developments to the existing aerodrome were deemed to be necessary,” the statement of defence said.

It added that after the end of the war, the colonial government reverted the land for civil use as part of the Accra Airport project.

The GACL contended that the colonial government adequately paid compensation for the land and, therefore, the plaintiff was not the legal owner of the land and, therefore, not entitled to the reliefs.

The alleged suspect has been identified as 37-year-old Joshua Baidoo who is in police grip assisting with investigations.

Both residents of Assin Nuanua Fantse in the Assin South District, the men were involved in a disagreement over who takes over part of a land after the co-owner’s demise.

According to sister of Mr Asare, Agnes Nkrumah, the deceased owned a joint cocoa farm with another resident who died years ago, and his brother insisted on taking over.

However, Mr Asare is said to have opposed, and decided to hand over to his partner’s wife and children.

He was shot in the early hours of Friday, July 23 while on inspection duties in the cocoa farm.

Witnesses say before dying, he mentioned Mr Baidoo as the alleged perpetrator of the act.

This led to his arrest by the Assin Fosu Divisional police.

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The two peri-urban communities in the Afigya Kwabre South District clashed over a land boundary dispute.

Police say calm has been restored as investigations continue.

The youth of Bomfa and Adwumakase have been engaged in reprisal attacks over a land dispute.

According to police accounts, armed personal, who arrived in the area on Thursday evening to restore law and order, were caught in a crossfire.

Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Godwin Ahianyo, said one police officer who was hit by an object fired live ammunition at two of the irate youth.

One of them later died at the hospital from the gunshot wounds.

Police have begun investigation into what led to the attacks on police officers at Afigya Kwabre South.

He revealed that one police officer was taken hostage and the other was hit with a foreign material, as a result he fell and he also had to resort to a firearm.

“Unfortunately, two persons got injured and this morning one of the victims has passed on to eternity,” he said.

The Regional Police Command has taken up the matter and has referred it to the regional Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for them to unravel the circumstances that led to the attacks on the police officer, the damage of the police vehicle and the firing of the shot leading to the death of the individual.

ASP Ahianyo added that “the commander has also met with the chiefs to maintain calm in the area. He has promised to forward the issue to the Otumfuo’s secretariat for them to determine the ownership of land.”

Leaders of the two communities met with the Ashanti regional police commander to broker peace.

The Bonfahene Nana Kwaku Twumasi, and Adwumakaase Kesehene, Nana Asenso Kofo Ababio II, described the incident as unfortunate.

They called for calm among the youth as the Asantehene looks into the land dispute.

“We’re pleading with the youth to maintain calm. Let’s forget about what happened. We will all die one day, maybe this was destined to happen.

“Let’s all be calm. The Otumfuo has the final say and I know he will ensure calm is restored”, the Adwumakaase Kesehene, Nana Asenso Kofo Ababio added.

Police said investigations will continue on the shooting leading to the death of the man.

“Our CID’s are currently monitoring events and picking statements with regards to this issue.

“This is going to help them to elicit information to come up with a comprehensive report,” ASP Ahianyo said

This was after two persons were confirmed dead and several others wounded after guns and machete-wielding men of two factions attacked each other on Thursday.

The 15 suspects were picked up after Thursday night’s confrontation following earlier combat on Tuesday.

Scrap dealers and some other people claiming to be indigenes of Aboabo have been involved in a violent clash over the rightful owner of the property.

Police say, two unidentified men, who sustained gunshot and machete wounds as a result of the clash lost their lives.

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Over 100 persons were initially rounded up for questioning but the figure has risen to 120.

Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Godwin Ahianyoh, who confirmed the deaths to Nhyira FM said there is increased police-military patrols in the area.

Meanwhile, Asokore Mampong Municipal Security Committee has called for a joint meeting with Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to resolve the impasse.

It also wants the Ashanti Regional Security Council to summon Asemhene and management of Ghana Railway Company to clear the air on who owns the disputed land.

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At an emergency meeting on Friday, MUSEC Chairman, Alidu Seidu called for calm between the feuding factions as KMA seeks REGSEC’s support to resolve the issue with increased police-military patrols.

Source: Ghana I Nhyira FM I Ohemeng Tawiah I ohemengtawiah@gmail.com