The air of relief that Ghanaian women started enjoying following the arrest and prosecution of the self-confessed serial killer, Mr Ebo Quansah last year has been cut short with another barbaric murder of three women and a boy in the Peki Traditional area last month. The barbarism has reinvigorated the state of fear that the vulnerable, especially women went through in Accra and other parts of the country in recent past and has seriously affected the economic and farming activities of women in the Peki traditional areas.
Women are now living in a state of fear, and bewilderment and scared to move out, especially to the farm unaccompanied. The victims, who were murdered between January 9, and 13, are Madam Mercy Kumah and Amagbu Britibi, all 70 years from Peki-Dzogbati, and Auntie Adzigo 22 from Agorme, near Kpetonu. The were molested, tortured and murdered in cool blood by unidentified gunmen whilst the boy Master Maxwell Adzigo 19 years was also gun down and beheaded.Another victim who miraculously survived the barbarism with various degrees of injuries and receiving medical treatment at the Peki Government hospital who narrated her ordeal, said they were attacked in the farm whilst harvesting maize on their piece of land at Dzogbati.
She said “the assailants surrounded us, made unidentifiable sounds and noise, called us names, molested and finally shot at us one after the other though we could not see them.” Meanwhile the Adontenhene of Peki Traditional Area Togbe Ayim Ameyibor V has appealed to the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Women and Children Affairs Ministry, the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA)and other gender advocates to join the Pekis in demanding justice for the murder women and the boy.
Togbe Ameyibor V, who is a retired Major of the Ghana Army urged the security authorities to treat the recent incident as murder and institute investigations “as it has no linkage with the land in dispute.” He said: “the murder incident of January 9, which took place at a cottage near Kpetonu lies outside the land in dispute as well as the second one on January 13 which also occurred on Peki-Dzogbati soil located outside the disputed land.” He said intelligent reports gathered on the two murders indicated similar modus operandi, stressing that both incidents took place before noon and the people were killed with guns.
He said: “after analysing the way and manner the said killings were done by the assailants, we are of the firm opinion that they were murder committed by individuals under the guise of a so called conflict situation in respect to the Peki Avertile-Tsito Awudome land dispute.” The Adontenhene also expressed concern about a security check point at Kporvi, which has been placed under the Anyinawase Awudome Police Command of the Tsito Traditional Area without the involvement of the Peki Police. “Personnel of Anyinawase Awudome Police have become too familiar withthe locals in the Awudome Traditional area by virtue of their long stay and fraternisation with them resulting in sympathy for them and thus distortion of the true state of affairs on the ground concerning matters occurring in and around the land in dispute.”
Togbe Ameyibor V appealed to the Inspector General of Police to reverse the security arrangement in the area, “As it is difficulty to seek for security protection and redress from and within the soil of your adversary. He suggested the relocation of the Police check point at the outskirts of Kpetonu est of Kporve or Avega near the Estern boundary of the conflict zone on the Accra-Ho highway to cehk the frequent infiltration of armed persons operating in the area.
“It is our view that the Command and control of the Police barrier located on the land in dispute be placed under a neutral Police Command until the final determination of the title and/or ownership of the land to avoid apparent bias against the Pekis with respect to security or intelligence reporting and to facilitate arrest.” Togbe Ameyibor also appealed to journalists to be guided by the principles of objectivity and fairness to all parties in conflict and show high sense of neutrality.
He called on the media to be circumspect, balanced and respect traditional norms and values of conflict areas in their reportage. “Conflict zones are highly volatile, hence the need for circumspection and high sense of decorum in news gathering on conflicts since any unguided report or statement has the potential of aggravating the situation”. He said news items on the recent murders were proving to be highly inflammatory of the situation as far as the situation has no linkage with the conflict. “Some are totally untrue, many more are ill-founded and or ill-motivated speculation and even in some cases where the reports are correct, they are reports that are calculated to inflame the situation,” the Adontehene said.
Togbe Ameyibor reminded media practitioners that the calm in the area was fragile and needed to be nurtured into a lasting peace. “This is a time to show maturity and sense of responsibility, titillating scoops, especially when they are wrong but even when they are right but endanger the security of the area and the people, will not help.” The Daily Graphic reported last month, that the Volta Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has initiated moves to stem the wanton murder of people on the disputed land between the Pekis and the Tsitos. The report, quoting a REGSEC statement, said the military and the police have been deployed in the area to prevent entry into and exit from the disputed areas.
