FEAR and anguish have gripped chiefs and people of Sefwi, Mafia, a farming community in Sefwi Juaboso District of the Western Region, following the arrest of 22 opinion leaders by soldiers and police officers.
The incident, Today learnt, occurred at 2:00 a.m., dawn yesterday.
The soldiers and police officers, according to residents, beat them up including innocent students, for picketing against illegal Chinese miners operating in the area.
Information available to Today showed that the police officers fired gunshots which wounded several of them. The situation led to some of the wounded being admitted in various health facilities in the district.
According to reports, many of the inhabitants of the town had to flee into the bush, immediately they saw military vehicles on the streets.
The sources said the security officers were deployed to the town through the influence of the illegal Chinese miners.
They indicated that the Chinese used the soldiers and police officers to intimidate the residents who refused to give out their farms to the illegal miners.
The security men, the reports indicated, fired several gunshots and chased some of the young men into the bush, leaving only school children in the town.
The women were not left out as they also received their share of the beating.
Speaking in an interview with Today, some inhabitants who spoke on condition anonymity said that the arrest of the opinion leaders came after the farmers in the community clashed with some Chinese illegal miners, a couple of weeks ago, when they prevented them from destroying their cocoa farmers.
That clash, Today was informed, led to the burning of one excavator belonging to the Chinese miners.
The residents accused the police at Sefwi Asawinso District Police Command and some military men of conniving with these Chinese illegal miners to abuse them with no reason.
To this end, the distraught residents called on the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. David Asante-Apeatu, and the Military High Command to take disciplinary measures against the military and the police who were hired by Chinese to attack them.
Source: Today
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
Ei, everything sefwi. Killing sefwi, bad roads sefwi .etc sefwi. Unprofessional police too Sefwi. How do you send some unqualified failed SHS police graduates to shoot people at dawn in their bedrooms. hmmm. This can only happen in Sefwi Cocoa ASE. hahahahaaaa. The IGP must come in this. Those police in that operation must be fired or transfered.
The Police and their "Nokofio" will one day lead Ghana into War. You embark on operation to ensure peace, but you rather go to shoot guns at innocent people. What at all is Ghana now turning into? The IGP must ensure all the police guards in that particular operation are all tranfered, because they are abusing their power on innocent rural people who do not know the law. IPGP please fire them.
Heads must row. how can chinese come to our land and destroy our river bodies. Instead of the police to show professionalism they are always influenced by money to do unprofessional things. Ei! Shooting paa de3. The commander and his boys need to be fired
I know this place, the police who normally go to the Juaboso District always involve themselves unethical police operation because they know that area is a rural area. Especially they always bully the rural dweller cos of their illiteracy level. How can a police just go for arrest and start shooting? The IGP should investigate and do some transfers from some of these rural areas. POLICE ABAA...
The shameful police and ***barred word*** military will accept pocket change to fight against their own nation.
It is very unthinkable to imagine the degree of greed among our chiefs, and the stu.p1d1ty of some state agencies. Why should we be so dull in our thinking that we don't want to protect our land, we don't want to protect the livelihoods of our people, we don't want to protect the lives of our people and we don't want to preserve our country. It feels sad sometimes to be a Ghanaian. Power is in the hands of wrong folks who have no track record, no feelings nor conscience. The police is gradually becoming ***barred word*** to the survival of the Ghanaian..... I am sad..