Pastor cries out as soldier shoot at his house

REV JOE Badu Danquah, founder and head pastor of Megaword Chapel International at Windy Ridge, a suburb of Takoradi, is claiming that he and his family cannot live in their house located at Apremdo Race Course near Takoradi.

According to the reverend, they could not stay in the house because military men from the Second Battalion of Infantry (2BN) in the area allegedly besieged the house last Friday and riddled his building with bullets.

Disclosing this in an interview with DAILY GUIDE, the reverend minister noted that his family including wife and two kids have fled their beautiful house, since the incident, for fear of being killed and were lodging elsewhere.

Rev Danquah, who said he started living at the Race Course area barely a month ago, narrated that on Friday, September 17, 2010, at about 10:30 am while he was praying at the church, he had a call from a plumber who was working in the house that some military personnel had invaded the house and were shooting at the building.

He quickly rang the wife and informed her and after the prayers at about 1:30 pm, he, together with the wife, reported the case at Kwesimnitsim Police Station where they were given a member of the Community Police Unit (CPU) to accompany them to the house to assess the situation.

The reverend minister noted that when they got to the house, they realized that the main gate of the house was ajar, the security gate opened and bullets holes created all over the building.

“Three bullet holes were created in the sliding windows and many others in the building while my big deep freezer was also destroyed beyond repairs with gun bullets,” he lamented.

Rev. Danquah added that when he got to the house, he also realized that his generator worth over GH¢2,000.00 and abicycle had allegedly been taken away by the military personnel.

When DAILY GUIDE visited the pastor’s house at Apremdo Race Course, the bullet holes were very visible.

The reverend minister also conducted the paper round to see some of the items and gadgets that were destroyed in his house by the gunshots.

When asked whether he had legally acquired the land or had had any confrontation with the military personnel prior to the incident, the reverend minister said he had lawfully acquired the land from its owners and the proper documentations had also been done.

He explained that somewhere in November last year, some officers from 2BN came to the area and warned that any civilian who had encroached on their lands should vacate.

According to him, the distance from his house to the land area belonging to the Ministry of Defence was about 200 metres and therefore did not understand why the military took that action on that fateful Friday.

He noted that none of the children was in the house at the time of the alleged military action, but were traumatized when they heard the story and had decided not to stay in the house.

He appealed to the senior officers of the Second Battalion of Infantry to resort to dialogue in settling any misunderstanding, rather than the use of gun which frightened people living in the area.

An eyewitness and a neighbour to Rev. Danquah, who pleaded anonymity, claimed that he was in his room at about 10:30 am when he saw a vehicle approaching the area.

He said all of a sudden, he saw a number of military personnel coming from the bushes nearby with some of them shouting “come out!, come out!!” , after which he heard gunshots.

When contacted, Lt. Col. Albert Kojo Dawohoso, Commanding Officer of 2BN said what took place last Friday was a routine exercise by the military personnel at the Race Course.

According to him, the tracts of land at the Race Course belonged to the Ministry of Defence and that was where the military had their routine training, adding that the shooting exercise would continue unabated.

“It is therefore advisable for people living in the area to move away for their own safety,” he concluded.