President John Dramani Mahama
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, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, and other authorities to intervene in a conflict unfolding between them and the residents of Adjena.
According to them, the people of Adjena are fighting them over land ownership in the Manya Yoyim area, leading to a violent 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. Before he could get a vehicle in Akosombo to transport the wood, some Adjena leaders approached with firearms, fired warning shots, and started loading the planks into their vehicle.
“When my people tried to stop them from taking the planks, they wounded one of them with a machete. We took him to the hospital in Akosombo, and I told the rest to stop because we are not ready to engage in a fight with them. I decided that when the owner arrived, we would find a way to retrieve the seized wood,” 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 from the land.
Nene Nartey noted, “Our spouses were caned 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 the police invited both parties to settle the dispute. However, the people of Adjena did not show up. Therefore, they are requesting that the president, national security, the IGP, and the defense ministry come to their aid by providing security; otherwise, they may be forced to take the law into their own hands.
Tettey Love Blessing, one of the women assaulted by the thugs, told the Ghana News Agency that while on their way to the market, they noticed the gang loading the sawed planks into a van. The thugs stopped them and questioned them about where they were going.
“When we saw them on our way to the market, they asked where we were from. We said we were from Manya Yoyim, and they insisted there’s no place like Manya, saying we should accept that we are from Adjena. Then they broke a stick and started assaulting us. We told them we were one people and were not going to fight back, but they continued beating us. They even said if they killed us, our husbands and parents wouldn’t be able to 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.
“They threatened to shoot us if we didn’t remain silent. One of them said he could sleep with me and there was nothing I could do about it. I told him that because he is not my husband, he cannot have access to my body, and he slapped me several times from behind. They continued to assault us until they finally let us go. The items we took to sell were seized by them, and we are afraid to go back for them. If the government doesn’t provide us with adequate security, they will kill us all because they are armed,” she said.
Mr. Moses Fio, the Assemblymember for the Yeniamah electoral area, told the media that the Adjena people have been claiming Manya Yoyim as their own for the past four years, despite the fact that they have resided there for generations.
“We shall defend ourselves in whatever way we can if the IGP doesn’t warn the Adjena people to stop invading our land and claiming it as their own,” he stated.
He added that when they called the police, because Akosombo was far away, the attackers had already completed their mission and fled before law enforcement could arrive.
“Although we will not invade their territory, we will defend ourselves if they do so in the future. They have already attacked our people, injured one of them, and taken our motorcycle and cutlass,” he noted.