Police Deny Terrorism Story At Okantah-Odumase

The Eastern Regional Police Command, has denied media reports that there were acts of terrorism including rape and the use of offensive weapons at Okantah-Odumase, a community near Nsawam. A statement issued in Koforidua by Assistant Superintendent of Police Yaw Nketia Yeboah, Regional Police Public Affairs and Operations Officer, and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the Police had not received any complaint in respect of rape or land guards with guns and other dangerous weapons terrorising residents. �Police patrols have been intensified in the area and residents go about their daily activities without fear,� the statement said. It debunked a caption story that said �residents, mostly women and children as well as the youth have fled the town�. According to the statement, it is on record that the rightful owners of the contentious land have been declared by the law courts and that they had given some portions of the land to estate developers like the Supreme Justice and KOANS. It said so far in the year, the Nsawam Police had recorded only four criminal cases lodged by residents of Okantah-Odumase, which had all been processed and are pending before the law courts. �All those cases were recorded on February 15, March 20, April 10 and April 13, and all suspects regarding those cases were all arrested and prosecuted accordingly.� The statement appealed to the media to first crosscheck security issues with the police before publishing such stories. It said that would prevent litigants and criminals from taking undue advantage to win an illegitimate public sympathy to the detriment of law abiding citizens as well threatening the peace of the nation.