Armed military men believed to have been acting on orders from the Headquarters of the Ghana Armed forces went on rampage today demolished houses and walls at a place called Tse-Addo within the East La-Dade Kotopon area in Accra.
Terrified residents told Citi News that they woke up this morning to find heavily armed military men under the leadership of one Captain Quaye of the military police pulling down walls and some uncompleted buildings over a wide expanse of land without stating reasons.
When Citi News got to the affected area, the walls protecting some lands have been razed. Owners said the military warned them not to come close or risk being violently restrained.
Leader of the Land Owners Association of Tse –Addo, one Harrison explained that he responded to distress calls from residents in the area complaining about the activities of the Army.
“I got a distress call from my membership this morning that the army was in our neighborhood destroying properties and had to rush from my office to the site “he explained.
According to him he only arrived to meet the trail of the destruction by the armed men who came with a bulldozer and some seven vehicles. A resident mentioned 73 GA 28 and 73 GA 40 as some of the numbers of the vehicles used for the operation.
A developer whose fence wall had been brought down over a wide area tells Citi News estimates the cost of the destruction to be “two hundred thousand Ghana cedis.”
He wondered how “an institution like the military will visit such mayhem on innocent residents.”
Gathered at a particular location were about 10 affected landowners, who say they legally acquired these properties, hence their apprehension about the behavior of the Military.
According to Harrison they would be forced to sue the military for damages if they don’t put a stop to their activities which they describe as “illegal and offensive.”
Land owners indicate that the military started harassing their workers about a year ago.
According to them, enquiries at the AG department where the Military showed that the military were interested in acquiring the said area as a buffer zone there.
Although negotiations are not over the residents report that the military have unilaterally decided to take over the land.
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By: Richard Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana