Emeute à Accra au Ghana – novembre 2009

Riot Over Land – Two Dead, Others Injured

http://www.graphicghana.com

17th November 2009 07:10:08 by

The land dispute between the Word Miracle Church International (WMCI) and some squatters at Avenor in Accra yesterday exploded into an exchange of gunfire that claimed two lives and left three others seriously wounded.

The bloody event occurred when a busload of land guards, acting as agents of the church, moved in to reclaim the parcel of land which the church claimed it had acquired about two years ago but had been taken over by the squatters.

In the face of fierce resistance from the squatters who had then mobilised and armed themselves in readiness for the anticipated assault, the land guards, who were said to have been recruited by Emmanuel Teye, the contractor for the church, lost a member in the gun battle.

The deceased member of the land guards is a Rastafarian whose identity is yet to be established. The other dead person was said to be a bystander who was hit by a stray bullet and died at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Three others who were injured during the exchange of gunfire between the squatters and the land guards are said to be recuperating at Korle-Bu.

Additionally, the 207 Benz bus which transported the land guards to the site was burnt to ashes, while the back windscreen of a Nissan Pathfinder belonging to the same group was smashed.

A police detachment which arrived later to quell the riots had the door of one of its pick-ups smashed. The police, however, arrested 23 people, made up of 17 land guards and six squatters, who are currently being held at the Greater Accra Regional Police Headquarters.

They also retrieved a pump action gun, six machetes and two butchers’ knives from the Nissan Pathfinder, which is currently at the Accra Regional Police Command.

Mr Teye, whom the police described as a notorious land guard, had conveyed his group in five vehicles, including the Benz bus and the Pathfinder, to work on the land.

According to the police, he had been hired as a mason by the church to work on the land and he had gone to the site with his land guards, who started firing indiscriminately when they were met with resistance from some squatters who were still on the land after the police had assisted in clearing them from the place last Friday.

Accra Regional Police Operational Commander, Superintendent Sylvester Bawiise Beyuo, who briefed the Daily Graphic, said the police were still investigating the issue.

He said on November 13, 2009 a team of police personnel had effected the demolition of more than 200 unauthorised structures on the land, following a court order.

He said the exercise was to pave way for a surveyor to demarcate the land for the church.

The commander told the Daily Graphic that there was a legal battle over ownership of the land between the supposed landowners and the leadership of the WMCI.

He said the court gave judgement in favour of the church and ordered the police to demolish all unauthorised structures on the said land.

Supt Beyuo said before the demolition exercise, his outfit had informed the squatters of its pendency but they had not paid heed to it.

Informations

Accra est la capitale du Ghana. C’est la ville la plus peuplée du pays (1 661 400 habitants en 2001, près de 3 millions pour l’ensemble de l’agglomération) dont elle constitue le centre administratif et économique. Les activités industrielles principales sont : la transformation alimentaire de produits agricoles, les industries du bois et la fabrication de contreplaqué, le textile, l’habillement et l’industrie chimique.