One of the reporters who covered the clash between residents of Dome Faase, near Obom Domeabra and two soldiers on Tuesday , Kweku Asiedu has disclosed that the Member of Parliament for the area, Sophia Karen Edem Ackuaku was warned not to step foot on the disputed land she refused.
According to him, the MP informed them to go and take footage of the land in question but due to past experiences as journalists who have knowledge of how land guards operate, they warned the woman to stay off the land but she insisted and took them there to take photos of the land.
The youth of Dome Faase, near Obom Domeabra in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region clashed with some soldiers over a disputed parcel of land in Accra on Tuesday, August 25th 2020.
At the end of the day, two soldiers were brutalised and sustained injuries after warning shots fired by the soldiers hit two residents.
Speaking on Atinka 104.7 FM’s AM Drive hosted by Ekourba Gyasi, Kwesi Asiedu explained that the Chiefs complained to them at the press conference that the Apedwahene was claiming that the lands on which they have occupied for about 400 years from Fankyiriko, Adoagyiri, all the way down to Kasoa belonged to him.
He said the chiefs also complained that those from Apedwa had started grading the farms and the villages after they claimed the lands belonged to them.
“After the press conference, the MP asked that we all move to land, we told her it was not advisable but she did not pay attention to us and made us go there. But When we got there and the soldiers gave warning shots, she sat in her car and left us there,” he said.
Kwesi Asiedu further said when the soldiers approached the people of Obom Domeabra and started giving warning shots, the irate Obom residents also went home to pick their weapons to retaliate since they went to the land without weapons.
He said the people of Obom thought those in army uniforms were land guards who had been given uniforms to scare them and not soldiers and therefore went back to brutalise them.
“Even when we tried to intervene on behalf of the soldiers, the residents warned us to release them for them to deal with the soldiers. The soldiers even told the residents they were also residents at Obom but the irate residents went ahead to brutalise the soldiers,” he said.
MP’s explanation
Meanwhile, explaining the incident, the Member of Parliament for Obom Domeabra, Sophia Karen Edem Ackuaku said they insisted the journalists went to the land to have a clear view and as well capture the reality on the ground in their reports.
“When the Apedwahene saw that the Chiefs and the residents were clad in red attire, he called his guys who were in the bush with guns to come out and they went to their packed vehicles to change their clothes into the army uniform. They also picked guns and when our chiefs and residents starting approaching they started shooting,” she said.
Below is a video:
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