A notorious landguard, Ibrahim Mashahudu aka One Million who is alleged to be terrorizing the residents of Teacher Mante in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region, by taking over their lands has been remanded into police custody the Kyebi Circuit Court.
The accused with one of his accomplices, Sampson Lartey, 22, a payloader operator has been charged with causing unlawful damage and conspiracy to commit a crime.
The ring leader of the landguard “One Million” was arrested two weeks ago when he stormed Kyebi Police station to facilitate a bail for his payloader who earlier stormed a factory site at Teacher Mante under construction given by the Okyenhene to an investor and collapsed the project on its 13th time.
The accused persons, at the second time appearance in the court, pleaded not guilty to the charges of using force, violence, or intimidation to prevent or instruct a lawful owner of the land from developing the land belonging to Kingsley Egyiri and Rose Egyiri at Teacher Mante.
However, a State Attorney who filed the charge against the suspects pleaded to the court to remand them since 15 others are currently at large to enable the Police to investigate the matter and arrest the rest.
Even though counsel for the accused persons pleaded for bail, but the presiding Judge declined and remanded the suspects to reappear on 14th December 2021.
According to the prosecution, the complainant, Kwame Adu, who resides at Tantra Hills, Accra, reported to the Okyenhene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, that his brother-in-law and his wife based in London had acquired one acre land at Teacher Mante to be used for a beverage factory.
The complainant said he then tipped sand and stones to the site to begin the project, in which the workers raised a building to eight feet meant for a warehouse.
While the project was ongoing, one Amankwa of Accra claimed ownership of the land and was invited by the Okyenhene but he refused to turn up.
The prosecution continued that on 12th November, 2021, the ring leader of the group recruited the payloader operator and many other landguards from Accra and came to instruct them to stop the developer and also destroy the ongoing building.
The landguards numbering about 15 wielding cutlasses and other offensive weapons visited the site and used force, violence, and intimidated the workers, and stopped them from developing the land.
On several occasions, the landguards have been visiting the site with unregistered motorcycles and a vehicle with registration No. GX-3189-20 threatening the workers with weapons which the complainant informed the Okyeman Environmental Taskforce.
In the last two weeks, the landguards sighted the task force and all of them bolted with a car registered No. GA-S189-0 which the land guards have been using to and from the site.
The task force arrested the payloader operator and during a search in the vehicle, they found three pick axes and three shovels belonging to the landguards at the site which were handed over to the Police, and a formal complaint was lodged against them.
The ring leader later stormed the Kyebi Police Station to facilitate bail for the suspect, who was arrested and put before the court.
The attached image is the Ring Leader of the land guard, One Million.
– BY Daniel Bampoe