Adjei Kojo Residents In Free-For-All Fight With Security; Two Injured

Two people sustained serious injuries in a free-for-all-fight between desperate residents of Adjei Kojo in Tema and armed police and military personnel, Tuesday.

The military fired warning shots to disperse angry residents fighting to protect debris of their flattened houses left in the wake of a demolition exercise three weeks ago.

According to Joy News’ Joseph Opoku Gakpo, the security had gone to supervise the removal of debris of illegal houses built on a disputed land said to be owned by the Tema Development Corporation (TDC), but the residents who are already wailing over the demolition of their houses and were keeping up in tents mounted on the disputed land attempted to protect some of the belongings kept in the tent.

The residents claim the second coming of the security personnel was calculated at tampering with the evidence of the inhuman demolition and to prevent the Parliamentary investigative team from getting the necessary information needed for their report.

Gakpo reported that the residents gathered around the area where the debris in an attempt to salvage their tents and other valuables as the bulldozers approached.

The military and police personnel intervened and tried to get the residents out of the zone resulting in violent confrontation.

Some of the residents were said to have been hit with the butts of the guns while others were whipped with belts and ropes.

One of them told Joy News he was having a chat with one of the soldiers when another attacked him from behind and three others joined later to assault him.

Two of the residents sustained injuries with blood oozing all over.

The residents fought back and pelted the military with stones and hurled insults at the them.

One person was arrested by the police, Gakpo reported.

According to him, the exercise to clear the debris has been halted temporarily as the bulldozers backtracked.

The scheduled visit by the Parliamentary Investigative team has also been cancelled with the members raising security concerns.

It is not clear yet if the exercise to clear the debris will resume.

Adjei Kojo has made the headlines over the past month after a demolition exercise by the TDC rendered hundreds of families homeless.

The TDC is claiming ownership of a disputed land and has won two legal battles at the High Court and the Appeals Court.

The residents however claim they acquired the land from chiefs and built their houses with the express permission from officials of TDC.

The MP for the area Irene Naa Torshie Addo presented a petition to Parliament resulting in the formation of a committee to investigate the circumstances under which the demolition exercise was conducted.