Some residents of Dome Faase near Obom in the Greater Accra Region have been accused of assaulting two soldiers over a piece of land in the area.
The soldiers clashed with the residents while protecting the property for the Mponuahene of Akyem Apedwa who they claim is the owner.
According to the spokesman for the residents, there have been rumours of armed land guards working with military personnel to terrorize their communities.
Speaking in an interview, the soldiers said the residents had been demonstrating over the ownership of the land when the incident occurred.
One of the soldiers who identified himself as Clement Asare-Addo said warning shots had been fired with the hope of dispersing the agitated residents. However, this backfired.
“Our work is that we give a warning shot and when they stop then their leader and our leader will sit down and talk. But this one, it didn’t happen like that. They came to us and attacked us saying that we came here voluntarily,” he said.
According to his narration, the army officer who indicated that he was stationed at the Army Headquarters said the residents accused them of not having been officially assigned to that post.
He added that even after explaining to the leader of the group that they were not criminals, the group simply would not listen to reason and proceeded to beat him and his colleague up.
“Their leader came there and we informed him that we are not criminals. So if there is anything else, they should exercise patience and lead us to your chief or wherever then we continue,” he pleaded.
Clement said their pleas and cries of innocence fell on deaf ears as the residents continued to beat them.
Meanwhile, the leader of the mob and the chief of the area were nowhere to be found during the clash.