The owner of 21st Century Construction Company, who sold the land over which a military officer has been killed at Kasoa, has accused the Millennium City Police station in the Gomoa East District of the Central Region, of failing to address a land dispute leading to the murder.
Kofi Asmah alleged corruption on the part of the police hence their inability to solve the situation effectively.
A military officer believed to be in his late 30s, lost his life in a violent altercation over land rights at Kasoa Millennium City. The Herald got his name as Lance Corporal Danso, a professional welder at Base Workshop, Burma Camp – Accra.
The shooter, identified as Benlord Ababio, has been labelled a sub-chief.
Asmah and others have raised concerns about the audacity of Benlord Ababio, the Gyasehene of Millennium City, to bring a firearm to the police station and fatally shoot an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces, suggesting possible complicity on the part of the police.
Two other officers narrowly escaped death after Lord allegedly opened fire on them in front of the district police station.
The root of the tragedy lies in a long-standing dispute over land ownership. Reportedly, the brother of one of the military officers had purchased land on behalf of the officers. However, their attempts to develop the land were consistently thwarted by a group allegedly led by a landguard.
In an attempt to resolve the conflict, the deceased officer and his companions visited the disputed land, only to encounter another group already working on it. Despite their efforts to seek intervention from the police, tensions escalated.
According to eyewitness accounts, the officers decided to lodge another complaint at the Millennium City District Police Command. However, upon learning that their initial complaint had been forwarded to the Central East Regional Police Command, they proceeded to follow up on the matter.
It was during this journey that Lord, the sub-chief, reportedly attempted to stop them. When the officers refused to comply, he allegedly fired at their vehicle, resulting in the fatal injury of one officer while the others narrowly escaped harm.
Eyewitnesses further corroborate the sequence of events, indicating that Lord fired at the officers’ vehicle from behind as they departed for the Divisional Police Command.
Benlord Ababio, reportedly intervened, urging the officers not to proceed to the Divisional Command. However, the officers disregarded his plea, leading to the tragic outcome.
Following the incident, Lord was arrested and subsequently transferred to the Accra Division by the police due to concerns about potential retaliation from the landguards in the area.
Other accounts were that the officers who were in a Toyota Rav 4 with registration number GR 3591-24 upon reaching the said land met some individuals working on the land and ordered them to stop. While lodging a second complaint at the Millennium City District Police station but were met by the Gyasehene of Millennium City Benlord Ababio who insisted they don’t go to the station to lodge another complaint.
After refusing to adhere to the plea of the chief he fired at the vehicle of the officers from behind when they decided to go to the Divisional command since efforts at the District command had not yielded any result leading to the death of one of the officers.
An eyewitness narrating the incident to Citi News said “I saw the incident happen right in front of me. The Chief, Benlord 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. He was later transferred to Accra Division by the police for fear of being attacked by the landguards in the area.”
theheraldghana.com
