Upper West: Police Arrest 35 Land Disputants

The Police in Upper West on Monday rounded up 35 persons including two women engaged in violent dispute over ownership of a parcel of land being used for sand winning.

The disputants were reported to have assaulted residents and police personnel attempting to restore calm in Chansa and Nakori communities in the Wa Municipality where the brawl had been brooding for over five years until escalating last week.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Vincent Appiah, the Wa Municipal Police Commander, confirmed apprehending the suspects to Ghana News Agency on Monday.

He said the suspects did not only assault police officers and some residents of the communities, but caused extensive destruction to farm produce and also blocked roads, denying road users access.

According to the police some three persons from Nakori on September 26th, this year reported that they had gone sand winning with their tipper truck on a parcel of land but some inhabitants numbering about 30 attacked them.

The police visited the area and made some arrests but some disgruntled Nakori youth demanded the release of the suspects and threatened to burn down the police vehicle.

The police refused to release the suspects, but the youth in their large numbers forcefully opened the police vehicle and set free their colleagues.

DSP Appiah said the two women who are part of those taken into custody contributed to assaulting the police officers deployed to the communities to restore peace.

The suspects have been remanded into prison custody and will reappear before the Wa Magistrate Court for rioting and refusing people's right to move freely.

DSP Appiah admonished the public to desist from obstructing law abiding citizens from accessing public places like the roads when they were aggrieved over such matters.

GNA
By Abubakari Ibrahim Wangara, GNA