Leaders at the Kokomba yam market inside Agbogbloshie, a suburb of Accra, have expressed disagreement with comments by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to have their residents relocated.
David Asante-Appeatu – after a tour of the area on Wednesday following deadly ethnic clashes a day earlier – proposed the relocation of all settlers.
According to the IGP, the continuous dwelling of the various ethnic groups in the area poses a national security threat.
But on Thursday, April 13, addressing journalists, Ezekiel Dannah, Secretary of the Kokomba Yam Dwellers Association, described the stance of the IGP as premature.
A joint police-cum-military team has begun a house-to-house scouring for illegal arms in Agbgbloshie.
Five persons – two in possession of locally manufactured pistols – were picked up on Wednesday.
The yam dwellers say they are ready to cooperate with the law-enforcement agencies on retrieval of arms from the area.
Meanwhile, the Dagomba settlers in Agbogbloshie have also rejected the suggestion by the IGP.
Spokesperson for the Dagomba youth Baba Abdulai Iddrisu told TV3‘s Komla Klutse in an interview that that the timing of the IGP’s suggestion is wrong as it is only coming because of the recent conflict.
He said it will even be difficult to relocate the over 120,000 settlers to the prepared Adjen-Kotoku area.
He also expressed support to the security to flush out criminals from the area.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana