<<Print>>

A bulldozer operator at Appolonia, Daniel Abbah, has accused a combined team of military personnel and the taskforce of Kpone Katamanso District Assembly (KKDA) of kidnapping him. He said his kidnappers manhandled him, resulting in injuries to his ear, neck and his back. He noted that he received treatment for injuries at a private medical facility. �The shocking thing about the whole incident is that it was perpetrated by both military men and the KKDA taskforce. The truth is I am yet to come to terms with the way I was manhandled,� Daniel said. Narrating the incident to this paper, Daniel noted that last Friday, he and his colleagues were assigned by their boss, a private developer, to go to his land at Appolonia and work. At about 12.30pm, he said a military vehicle with registration number 44 GA 12 arrived at the site with about 12 military personnel in mufti on board. Another vehicle carrying some men dressed in KKDA branded shirts over some green pair of trousers also pulled up.. Daniel, who looked traumatised, explained that without any provocation, one of the military men suddenly ordered him to stop work and get down from the payloader he was working with. �I humbly asked why he wanted me to stop work. He walked straight to where I was and slapped me several times, turned the engine of the bulldozer off and forced me out,� Daniel stated. According to him, even a plea to have them speak to his boss on phone could not stop the angry-looking combined team of military personnel and the taskforce members. Some members of the military team, according to Daniel, joined in beating him until one of them pulled out a handcuff and forcefully handcuffed him, after which they bundled him into the military vehicle and left the scene while the taskforce vehicle followed. He said they placed him in the bucket of the double-decker military vehicle and drove around the Appolonia area and later handed him over to the taskforce, who also forcefully handcuffed him into their vehicle. �Even though I did not know what they were up to and where they were sending me to, I later overheard one of the military men telling a member of the taskforce team to inform the KKDA engineer about the latest development and ensure that they quickly handed me over to the police because they had just gotten information that my boss was on his way to the EMEF Police Station to lodge a complaint about my kidnapping,� Daniel alleged. He said it was at this point that the KKDA taskforce quickly drove to the Kpone Police Station and handed him over to the police. He said he did not know what the taskforce team told the police before he was handed over to them, but added that he was later released and given a police medical form to be examined and treated at a medical facility. The bulldozer operator mentioned that some parts of a tipper truck belonging to his boss were completely destroyed just before he was kidnapped. He also mentioned that a cable in the bulldozer was destroyed by one of the military personnel, who took away the key to one of the vehicles at the site. Asked if he has visited the scene after the incident, Daniel said no, and added, �I am currently at home receiving treatment. I am sure I will require some few more days before I could resume my duties at the site.� A check with the local police revealed that the incident is currently being investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department at the Police Headquarters in Accra. The police was quick to assure residents of the area of its continued presence. It further stated that it has been able to bring the activities of land guards in the area under control. Robbery, which had been one of the social vices confronting the people of the area, has also been brought under control. It further pointed that it has put strategic plans in place to ensure that residents were protected from the usual troubles that come with the Christmas period. Last week, the heavy presence of military personnel became a topical issue, with the Greater Accra Regional Minister and the leadership of the KKDA alleged to have initiated that with the explanation that they did not trust the police in the area. The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, who was accused of authorising a raid by some military men at a disputed land at the Kpone Katamanso District, later denied that. He told an Accra-based radio station that he did not authorise the military to go to the land in dispute to stop ongoing development there. According to him, it was the District Security Council which took the decision to bring the military to the area, and further stated that the military had been asked to remain on the ground until the problem was resolved. The Minister�s denial received mixed reaction from some of the residents who insisted that it was wrong to have involved the military in the matter, especially when the police was doing everything to maintain peace and order. According to some of them, the presence of the military has put fear and panic into the people, who are said to have expressed their displeasure at the turn of event. At the time of going to press, all attempts by this paper to contact the KKDA engineer, Mr Vincent Yeboah, proved futile.