After all the controversy regarding the demolition of Nigerian Embassy in Ghana, a Ghanaian monarch in Osu Traditional Area, Nii Okwei Dowuona VI, has said that the Nigerian High Commission trespassed on a plot of land where the Nigerian High Commissioner’s residence stood before Friday’s demolition.
Mr Dowuona claimed the parcel of land and the entire Osu Mantse layout belongs to the Osu Stool, a council of local chiefs and not state-owned.
Dowuona in a statement on Sunday said the parcel of land, approximately 1.14 acres, which is situated at West Ridge “is separate from that which is currently being occupied by the Nigerian High Commission.”
He said the attention of the Osu Stool was pricked when the original building on the land was demolished and, in its place, a new structure was being erected.
The Stool was informed that the structure was being erected by a Nigerian business person, who under the political influence of the high office of the Nigerian High Commission, was ‘forcibly’ trying to take over the said parcel of land, he said.
The monarch added that only the Stool “has the mandate to grant lease – be it expired or otherwise.”
He said the structure was planned to be an entertainment complex to serve as an events centre for commercial purposes and not a block of flats as being reported in the news.
The monarch said attempts to broker a truce between the Stool and the alleged Nigerian businessman on the ownership of the land were unsuccessful as calls and invites went unacknowledged.
“The stool has a high level of respect for foreign missions and has, therefore, on several occasions verbally informed the unidentified trespasser of the ownership status of the land through the security personnel resident on the parcel of land.
“The stool has subsequently sent messages inviting the trespasser for a discussion on ownership, yet there has been no acknowledgment,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, describing the incident as a “criminal attack”, vowed to investigate the demolition.
Mr Onyeama said on Sunday that his office is engaging the Ghana government and “demand urgent action to find the perpetrators and provide adequate protection for Nigerians and their property in Ghana.”
On Friday night, armed men stormed the residence that hosts a block of uncompleted apartments meant for visiting diplomats and forcibly turned away staff who were present at the scene.
Afterwards, the building was demolished by the men who said they had the support of the Ghanaian National Security while the police, also present at the place, watched without intervening.
“When the police came, they did not come to us or any other person but rather went straight to the man (the leader of the armed men) they had a friendly chat, exchanged numbers with him and allowed him to go,” the Commission’s security chief, Emmanuel Kabutey, told Ghanaian news agency, Joy news.
According to Joy News, the acting High Commissioner, who was present when the incident happened, was said to have gone into hiding after being terrified.
