Mr. Speaker, on the 8th of June 2023, in broad day light, residents learnt with shock the gunning down of five men in Bortianor Hills. The Ghana Police Service subsequently issued a statement claiming to have undertaken the said operation. According to the communique it was an operation targeting criminal elements who have been terrorizing residents and land owners and also involved in robbery and landguard activities in the Bortianor and surrounding areas.
This resulted in the death of the following persons whose name have been given as Abraham Tetteh Wayo aka Brother, Augustine Neequaye aka Dada Joe, Daniel Neequaye, Joseph Amankwanor and an unidentified steel bender, all natives of the Bortianor area. This incident has brought uneasy calm in the community.
Mr. Speaker, we acknowledge rampant landguard activities in and around the area and constant harassment of residents and builders alike, however reports from the family, friends and those with knowledge of these individuals have refuted the police allegations that these men were involved in landgaurd activities.
The chiefs and residents are aware of the daily collection of tolls as part of arrangement pertaining to sand winning activities, however this daily collection of tolls does not sit well with other claimants of the same parcel of land that has led to long protracted land dispute which people believe is a remote cause of this unfortunate incident.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents, we are calling on parliament to institute an inquiry into the matter because the chiefs and people of Bortianor and Kokrobite have rejected the claim by the police. We believe strongly that an inquiry could bring out the truth of the matter and bring calm to the people of my constituency.
I will also urge the people of Bortianor, Kokrobite and the surrounding areas to be calm and continue to be law abiding as we allow the competent agencies to take up the matter and ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the incident.
Thank you Mr. Speaker for giving me the opportunity to make this very important statement.