One of the two military men who were brutalized on Tuesday by irate residents of Dome-Faase in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region has been recounting his ordeal.
The military officer who identified himself as Clement Asare-Ado said he and his colleague were accosted by the unidentified residents and their leaders and beaten mercilessly.
According to him, the residents accused them of being intruders and subjected them to severe beatings. The military man said they had earlier explained to the leader of the irate residents that they were soldiers officially assigned to the area and requested that they meet them at the chief palace for them to address any concern they might have had about their presence in the town.
But their explanation fell on deaf ears as the residents and their leaders confronted and molested them on their way leaving them severely injured.
“The leader came there and we informed him that we are not criminals. So if they have anything, they should be patient and meet us at the chief palace but they met us on the way and started beating us,” the military officer told the media.
The soldiers who were allegedly deployed to the area to protect a parcel of land clashed with the residents leaving two soldiers severely wounded while two civilians sustained gun shot wounds.
A number of cars, motorcycle and a generator were reportedly set ablaze during the clash.
Videos circulating on social media show the military men who were made to sit on the ground soaked in blood as they were slashed with machetes and beaten to pulp. Their uniforms were also ripped apart.
Following the incident, over 300 military officers have besieged the area in search of the civilians who attacked their colleagues. This has led to most of the residents fleeing the area leaving the town deserted. The military have so far arrested about 20 suspects in connection with the incident.
Speaking to Accra based Joy FM, MP for the Domeabra-Obom constituency which Dome-Faase is under explained that the traditional leaders of the area had petitioned the presidency and the interior ministry as well as herself over a long-standing land dispute in the area.
The MP, Sophia Karen Ackuaku said her outfit could not seek parliamentary invention into the dispute because she received the petition at a time parliament was about to go on recess. She added that they pleaded for her assistance in getting a media coverage for a press conference on the issue.
On the attacks on the two military men, Mrs. Karen Ackuaku explained that “yesterday, after the chiefs and myself met at the press conference ground, they brought two military men but one of them said he was not a military man. So I think when he said he was not a military man, the residents who were bringing them to the chief (palace) started beating him on the way before he was brought to the chief. So when they brought them, I suggested that we should send them to the police station or send them to the hospital. Then the chiefs said they petitioned the Kotoku police and the police said they were not going to come because they don’t fall under them so they should go to Amanfro (police). So they have called the MCE. The MCE is on the way coming so if the MCE gets there then they would know what to do.”
The MP alleged that the military have been arresting children, women and the aged who have nothing to do with the incident after the residents particularly men fled the town.
Mrs. Karen Ackuaku who said she could not fathom the rational behind the arrests wants the military to reconsider their decision of arresting the vulnerable in the town who could not possibly have played any role in the incident.
