Natives of Manya Yoyim near Adjena in the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern region have pleaded with President John Dramani Mahama, the Inspector General of Police, and Dr. George Akuffo Dampare to intervene in a conflict that is unfolding between them and the residents of Adjena.
According to them, the people of Adjena are fighting them, claiming ownership of all the lands in the Manya Yoyim area, resulting in a clash in which one of their people was wounded with a machete.
Speaking at a press briefing, Dadematse (Community Chief) Nene Gabriel Nartey stated that he was informed by his locals that one of the opinion leaders felled a tree on his farm and sawed it into planks, and that before he went to get a vehicle in Akosombo to transport the wood from the village, some Adjena leaders with approached with firearms and fired warning shots and started loading the planks into their vehicle.
“When my people tried to stop them from moving away with the planks, they wounded one of them with a machete, and we took him to the hospital in Akosombo, and I told the rest to stop because we are not ready to engage in fight with them, so when the owner arrives, we will find a way to take back the seized wood from them,” he said.
He further stated that the thugs destroyed their farmlands and other plantations after repeatedly firing warning shots at his and other people’s homes, threatening to evict them off the land.
Nene Nartey noted that “Our spouses were canned by a gang of thugs two days ago when they went to the market, putting our lives in jeopardy to the point where students can’t attend school.”
The chief stated that they reported the incident to the Akosombo Divisional Police Headquarters and they invited the two parties to come so that they could settle the dispute, but the people of Adjena did not show up.
They are requesting that the president, national security, the IGP, and the defence ministry come to their aid by providing security for them; otherwise, they will be tempted to take the law into their own hands.
Tettey Love Blessing, one of the ladies assaulted by the thugs, told Ghana News Agency that while on their way to the market, they noticed the gangs were loading the sawed planks into a van, and they were stopped by the thugs questioning them about where they were going.
“When we saw them on our way to market, they asked where we were from, and we said we were from Manya Yoyim, and they said there’s no place like Manya, so we should accept that we are from Adjena, and they broke a stick and started assaulting us, so we told them we were one people and we were not going to fight back, and they kept assaulting us, and they said if they killed us, our husbands and parents can’t do anything about it,” she said.
She mentioned that one man from Adjena came to their rescue; otherwise, they would have been killed by thugs wielding machetes and firearms.
“Because they threatened to fire us if we didn’t remain silent. They said they could sleep with me, and there’s nothing I can do about it, and I told them that because they are not my husband, they cannot have access to my body, and they slapped me from behind several times, and they continued to assault us until they allowed us to leave, and the items we went to sell have been seized by them, and we are afraid to go for it so if the government doesn’t provide us with adequate security, they will kill us all because they they are holding weapons,” she said.
Mr. Moses Fio, the Assemblymember for the Yeniamah electoral area, told the media that the Adjena people have been claiming their settlement area, Manya Yoyim, as their own for the past four years, despite the fact that they had resided there for a long time since their ancestors’ period.
“We shall defend ourselves in whatever way we can if the IGP doesn’t warn the Adjena people to quit invading our land and claiming it as their own as soon as possible,” he stated.
He added that when they called in the police, because Akosombo was far away, the people had already completed their mission in the area and fled.
“Although we will not invade their territory, we will defend ourselves if they do so in the future because they have attacked our people, injured one of them, taken our motorcycle, and cutlass,” he noted.
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