Attempts by some chiefs and elders of Wedokum, a community within the Dodowa enclave of the Shai Osu Doku District in the Greater Accra region, to use dubious means in taking over lands belonging to the Odumse community also in the district, have been exposed.
Evidence produced by the Chief of Odumse and head of the Northern Ningo Alliance, Nene Fiesu Gblie III in response to recent allegations of encroachment leveled against his office by some chiefs and elders of Wedokum revealed that, the said lands being in contention falls within the boundaries of Odumse.
It would be recalled that some chiefs of Wedokum on the 30th of January 2024 accused the Northern Ningo Allaince and some individuals of imploring the services of landguards to encroach on their lands. They accused the Northern Ningo Alliance and even some officers of the Dodowa District Police command of harassing developers building on Wedokum lands.
However, in what seems to be a battle of evidence, the Northern Ningo Alliance has provided land demarcation and land title documents exonerating them of the said accusations.
The documents rather implicated the Chiefs and Elders of Wedokum of engaging in sales of lands that do not belong to them, whereas the said claims of the Odumse community disrespecting a boundary demarcation are untrue.
Mr. Tetteh Emperor Fiesu, a prince of Odumse and secretary to the chief of Odumse, who is one of the individuals accused of being the ring leader to the said landguards, has denied ever Importing thugs onto Wedokum lands to fight off developers there. Mr Fiesu who also doubles as the CEO of EMPOTET T&B Ventures a leading real estate company said Odumse has over 2,700 acres of land that forms part of the Northern Ningo lands and is backed by court documents.
He could not fathom why they would be accused of encroaching on lands that belonged to the Odumse community. According to him, the Wedokum families are rather encroaching on their lands after running out of lands to sell off to their would-be clients.
He said, if not for their resilience in protecting lands belonging to Odmuse, the Wedokum families who have a long penchant history of selling lands belonging to neighbouring communities, would have sold off their lands as well.
He cited a recent police operation led by his office which led to the arrest of some landguards who had been sent by the Wedokum families to ward off developers developing on Odumse lands.
Tetteh Emperor Fiesu, who commended the Dodowa District Police command for doing a yeoman job in protecting lands and properties in Odumse, charged the command to be hard on individuals from Wedokum fomenting troubles in their community.
Meanwhile, checks at the Dodowa Police Command have revealed that some landguards who were working on the orders of the Wedokum families were arrested on the 9th of February for engaging in unlawful acts within the boundaries of Odumse. The suspects who have since been granted bail are expected to be arraigned before a court this week by the police.
