Five suspected landguards have been arrested by the police for allegedly encroaching on lands belonging to the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and Regimanuel Estate.
The arrests followed a visit by members of the Greater Accra Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to the affected sites in response to petitions about ongoing landguard activities and illegal encroachments.
Chairman of the Greater Accra REGSEC, Daniel Titus-Glover, who addressed the media in Accra on Friday, reaffirmed the council’s commitment to restoring order in the capital and dealing decisively with individuals involved in such unlawful activities.
“We are in a country of law, not in a jungle. So REGSEC decided to come here to see things for ourselves. Fortunately for us, some of the suspects are here. We’ve picked them, we are taking them to the police and asking them a few questions, then the law will continue,” Titus-Glover stated.
He further emphasized REGSEC’s dedication to ensuring peace and order in the region: “We are here to sanitise the region. We don’t want any ‘landguardism,’ any sort of miscreants that will try to disturb the peace, and by so doing, our prayer is that everybody is at peace.”
The arrest of the suspected landguards is part of an ongoing effort to address illegal land encroachments and ensure that properties are protected from unlawful activities.
Landguards have attacked a bailiff from the Accra High Court at Agbazo in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra region.
The bailiff was present in the area due to an injunction application filed by farmers whose 750-acre farmland was destroyed for sand mining.
The farmers reported that the incident occurred in the presence of Police officers who did not make any arrests.
Out of the 750 acres, over 600 acres of maize, sweet potatoes, and watermelon belong to the 2021 Greater Accra Regional Best Farmer, Osmanu Kadri.
This situation threatens the livelihoods of hundreds of farmers in the community.
In an interview, Mr. Kadri stated that landguards have been chasing them off their farms with weapons.
He mentioned that numerous reports have been filed with the Amanfrom District Police Command, Weija Divisional, and Greater Accra Regional Police but to no avail.
Osmanu Kadri has therefore appealed to the IGP and President Akufo-Addo for assistance, as the landguards are destroying crops under the Planting for Food and Jobs policy.
Some affected farmers working with Golden Exotic Company also stated that the landguards have been brutalizing and tormenting them on their own farms.
They called on authorities to intervene on their behalf.
Reports suggest that a chief inMillennium City, Kasoa,allegedly fired the fatal shots that led to the killing of a military officer amidst a land dispute.
The tragic incident has deeply affected the community and has raised concerns about the increasing violence associated with land-related disagreements.
According to information from Citi News based in Accra, the conflict arose from a land dispute involving the brother of one of the military officers. Allegedly, the brother had purchased land from certain chiefs in Millennium City but faced fierce opposition from landguards whenever he tried to develop the property.
In an attempt to resolve the dispute, the deceased military officer, accompanied by two colleagues, visited the contested land. Despite previously reporting the issue to the Millennium City District Police Command, their efforts to address the situation peacefully were unsuccessful.
Arriving at the scene in a Toyota Rav 4 with registration number GR 3591-24, the officers encountered individuals working on the land. As they sought to halt the activity and lodge another complaint at the District Police station, they were confronted by the Gyasehene of Millennium City, identified as Benlord Ababio.
Witnesses described a tense confrontation between the military officers and the chief, during which the latter allegedly urged the former not to proceed to the Divisional Police Command. Disregarding the plea, the officers continued on their path, leading the alleged assailant to fire shots at their vehicle from behind.
“I saw the incident happen right in front of me. The Chief, Benload Ababio met the military officers at the District Police station and was trying to speak to them not to go to the Divisional Police Command but they didn’t listen.
“While they were heading to the Divisional command just after moving their vehicle the Gyamehene Benlord Ababio fired at their vehicle just behind them leading to one of the officers dying in the process.
Two other officers escaped unhurt but the chief was arrested immediately after the incident and sent to the Divisional Police Command.
Eyewitnesses recounted to citinewsroom.com that the police later transferred the accused chief to the Accra Division due to concerns about potential retaliation from local landguards.
Tragically, one of the officers lost his life due to the injuries sustained during the gunfire, while the other two escaped unscathed.
Promptly apprehended at the scene by law enforcement officers, the accused chief was swiftly transferred to the Accra Division amidst fears of reprisals from local landguards.
As investigations into the incident continue, the identity of the deceased officer remains undisclosed. Shock and disbelief enveloped bystanders as the grim aftermath unfolded, sparking speculation about the underlying reasons behind the deadly altercation.
Despite the gravity of the situation, official statements from authorities have yet to be released, leaving many questions unanswered and exacerbating tensions within the community.
With the investigation ongoing, residents of Kasoa are left to mourn the loss of life and grapple with the repercussions of violence erupting over contentious land ownership disputes.
Four people have been confirmed dead at Kasoa Mother and Child Hospital after about 30 landguards clashed with some community members at Danchira Ballagonnor, in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
Five others who sustained varied degrees of injury are being treated at the hospital.
The situation is said to have escalated when the land guards called in their colleagues, numbering about 30 who stormed Danchira Ballagonnor, armed with guns.
They began firing live bullets indiscriminately at the community members, leading to casualties and injuries.
Information gathered indicates that two land guards first attacked two residents of Ballagonnor.
This did not sit well with other community members who then confronted the land guards, resulting in a violent altercation between the two groups.
Ten persons believed to be landgurds are facing legal consequences following their actions.
The ten who are accused of engaging in activities of landguards at East Legon have been charged with conspiracy, involvement in land guard activities, and causing unlawful damage.
They have pleaded not guilty.
The court presided over by Mr Isaac Addo has admitted them to bail in the sum of GHC60,000 each with two sureties to be justified.
It further ordered the prosecution led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Nana Oppong to comply with the rules of disclosures and adjourned the matter to January 9, 2024.
According to the prosecutor, the complainant Juliana Ayayee Lokko is a pensioner and resident of Community 5, Tema.
The prosecution said the accused person claimed they resided in Accra but had failed to lead the Police to their residence.
The prosecutor said in 2022, the complaint’s brother who resided in London, United Kingdom (UK) acquired two plots of land from Nii Kofi Adjei who also obtained the land from the Okpong We family of Teshie and duly obtained a land title certificate from the Lands Commission.
It said for some time now, any time the complainant and her workers went on the land, the accused persons and other accomplices, now at large, would chase them out with weapons.
Prosecution said the accused persons afterward damaged the complainant’s metal gate valued at GH₵12,000 and damaged some parts of the fenced wall valued at GH₵31,300.
It said on December 13, 2023, at about 0000 hours (midnight), the complainant informed the Police that the accused persons had gone on the land.
Prosecution said the accused persons claimed one Francis had asked them to work on the land and they prevented the complainant from having access to the land.
According to the prosecutor, the Police rushed to the land and arrested the accused persons at about 2 am.
Prosecution said the accused persons were escorted to the Regional Police Headquarters and they were cautioned.
It said the accused persons in their caution statement, claimed they were sent to protect the land by one Francis who is now at large.
Residents of Ejisu- Jamasi (K.Lebi) area in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region are calling on the Ashanti Regional Police Command and the Overlord of the Ashanti Kingdom Otumfuo Osei Tutu ll to come to their aid over what they describe as maltreatment meted out to them by land guards in the area.
According to them, land guards have over the past years been disturbing them but several reports made to the Ejisu District police command have yielded no result.
To the residents, they have lost hope in the police, and if the Ashanti Regional Police command therefore if Otumfuo Osei Tutu II does not act swiftly to address the land guard menace in the area, they would be forced to take the law into their own hands.
“If the land guards venture our community again, we would be compelled to face them with guns and machetes, at least kill one of them. Asantehene and President Akufo-Addo, we need your intervention”, they stipulated.
Addressing a press conference yesterday at Ejisu Jamasi to register their displeasure the residents alleged that, sometimes the land guards are accompanied by police and people dressed up like National Security Operatives who join hands to brutalize them and fire gun shots on their plots of lands.â€
The worried residents continued that “we have police medical forms and hospital reports as well as pictures of some of the injuries suffered in the hands of these land guards, which have received no attention from the Ejisu police.
“We have on several occasions report the case to the Ejisu District police command but they have denied having anything to do with the activities of land guards.
One of them expressed his ordeal after he nearly lost his life when he was kept inside a car boot for hours after he was arrested by these land guards.
The Ngleshie Amanfro community was thrown into a state of chaos when land guards stormed the residence of the Abusuapayin, Nii Armah Okai, and beat him together with the Queen mother.
The attacks on the victims were launched when Nii Armah Okai decided to erect a gate at the palace for perfect security.
The Abuasupayin Nii Armah Okai together with the queen mother Nana Tambia were met with brute force by land guards who unleashed terror on them.
Narrating their ordeal in the hands of the land guards, Nana Tambia said she was at home when she received a call from Nii Armah Okai so she prepared and went to him.
She said she was there when Nii Okai was briefing her about the construction of the fence wall when a family member stormed the house ordering him to stop the construction.
According to her, a member of the family’s order was not accepted by Nii Armah Okai who said the construction of the wall is to ensure security and to prevent stray animals from entering the house.
“A family member wanted to know how he would have access to the house when it is fenced. So Nii Armah told him a key will be given to him so that he can come to the house at any time he wants to,†Nana Tamia said.
She averred that a family member then ordered his thugs to pull down the wall. “They maltreated me, drag me here and there. They also beat up my son and cut his body with knives,†she said.
On his part, Abusuapanyin Nii Armah Okai corroborated what the Queen mother narrated and stated that the development brought fear into the Ngleshie Amanfro community with people fearing for their lives.
He also narrated that he and the Queen mother decided to fix a gate to the family house which has been turned into a palace, and in the course of doing so, the Chief and his Lindquist called inland guards numbering about 100 who came and pull down the gate destroy it.
According to him, the land guards succeeded in brutalizing them in the process on the orders of the Chief.
Meanwhile the Weija divisional police has confirmed investigating the chief dispute in the area.
A member of the Osu Traditional Council is urging the government to enforce the recently passed Vigilantism Law to deal with the menace of Land Guards.
Nii Odoi Kwao II told GhanaWeb that although there are fewer reports of Land Guards fighting legitimate landowners from accessing their lands, the practice persists.
“Even now, because of the festering of land guards, what some families have done is that they have intentionally decided the join the Moslem faith because of our brothers from the North you know because of their upbringing they are very strong in order to get such people behind them to visit mayhem on their brothers and sisters because of land issue,†he said.
The Vigilantism and Related Offences Bill was passed into law last year following the Ayawaso West by-election Wuogon violence.
The law applies to a person who participates in the activities of a vigilante group that is associated with, related, connected or affiliated to a political party; a person who acts as a land guard and a person who engages in other acts of vigilantism.
It also seeks to disband political party vigilante groups and spells out prison terms for persons convicted of vigilante offences, with a maximum of 15 years.
Speaking on chieftaincy disputes in many Ga communities, Nii Kwao II also noted that many of these disputes are fuelled by the desire to grab lands in prime areas of the city and sell them.
“I am happy about this law that has been made and I hope that law will be enforced to its strictest sense…that one too can bring some sanity within the Accra area,†he said.
Most Ga communities in Ghana are bedevilled with one chieftaincy dispute or the other. Mostly two or more groups or clans claim ownership of a stool or an area that another clan or group is already ruling over.
Surprise and contentious installations of chiefs is a common feature in many Ga communities.
The police have opened investigation into the killing of a 35-year-old cattle herdsman at Dawa in the Greater Accra Region.
The deceased, Sanda Moro, a father of five, was reportedly stabbed to death when he took his cattle for grazing near his residence.
He went missing on May 23, 2020 until his lifeless body drenched in blood was found in the bush on May 27.
Nicolas Dugbatey, owner of the cattle, said he received a distress call from Moro that he was being attacked by land guards who demanded that he gave them cattle for the Eid Feast, but he refused.
“I advised him to abandon the cattle and run for his life, as I was on my way to the police station to report the matter. When I got to the scene later only the cattle were found, with three missing, but Moro was nowhere to be found,†Dugbatey recounted.
He added that they combed the area and discovered the hideout of the land guards where they found some abandoned meats … before locating Moro who was lying dead in a pool of blood.
Confirming the incident to DAILY GUIDE, Superintendent Mohammed Issa Cantona, the Commander of the Prampram District Police Headquarters, told DAILY GUIDE via telephone that police had visited the scene and had taken evidence to assist in their investigation.
According to him, some residents of the area also mobilized and attacked the suspects after stabbing the herdsman to death, but the hoodlums fled the scene.
He, however, said the police were on a manhunt for the suspects.
There was confusion at the Paniel Prayer Camp at Gbetsile in the Greater Accra Region on Friday, May 29, 2020, after land guards stormed the area.
According to some residents and members of the prayer camp, the land guards numbering about 30 allegedly fired warning shots as they levelled the land with earth-moving equipment.
Some of the residents now say they fear for their lives following the incident.
“For the prayer camp; the urinal, manhole, and a whole lot were destroyed. They have pulled a lot of mango trees down. I think someone is trying to cause tension here and we are not happy. We have been to the police station to lodge a complaint and they have come to inspect the place. We are yet to see the action of the police but we are pleading with them to bring the perpetrators to book,†one of them said to Citi News.
“Something is seriously going on here and so we are pleading with the government to come to our aid. For us, we will not allow anyone to work on this site because this prayer camp has been here for a very long time.â€
This is not the first time there is unrest in the community within the Kpone Katamanso Municipality over the activities of land guards.
Located off the Tema Akosombo Highway, Gbetisle is a few minutes drive from the Central Business area of Tema.
Due to the low cost of land and the proximity of communities located at the peripheries of Tema to the industrial hub of Tema, most workers who seek to own their own properties have no choice than to lease lands in communities such as Gbetsile and its environs.
This, however, has come at a high cost to many of these innocent developers as they are met with a series of challenges including land guard attacks and fraudulent land sales.
The chiefs and people of Ablekuma have appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to act firmly to end the reign of terror imposed on the area by landguards.
They said unknown landguards and other suspected criminals, who fled to the place from Kasoa in the aftermath of the killing of two officers of the Police Motor Traffic and Transport Department, were making life miserable for them.
Nii Dade Buahin, Noryaatse (Nkosuohene), Nii Boye Armah and Emmanuel Quarshie, both , elders of the community, called at the office of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to make the appeal.
They said “these band of lawless people†were seizing lands from property owners and firing guns in broad daylight and during the night to scare everybody.
“The group has become a real threat to peace and security in Ablekuma and we find it deeply troubling, the seeming inability of the police to ward them off.â€
They said formal reports were made to the police and also petitioned the Interior Minister.
Two of the suspected landguards Illiasu a.k.a Bob Marley, and Nii Borkobokor, alias “Policeman†were arrested by the police on September 17, and for almost two months, they were yet to be brought to justice.
They said any inaction on the part of the law enforcement officers could only embolden those who had chosen to live outside the law to continue to act with impunity.
“This should not be allowed to continue, the lawlessness must endâ€, the community leaders added.
An officer with the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to talk to journalists, confirmed that they were investigating a case involving Illiasu, Borkobokor and another person.
He said they were waiting for the complainants to bring their witnesses for their statements to be taken.
