Assasie-Gyimah denies Mosque demolition report

Naval Captain (Rtd) Baffour Assasie-Gyimah has dismissed media reports that he led a team of policemen to demolish a mosque at Zion City, Abokobi near Adenta in Accra.

According to the retired military officer, no mosque was demolished during the exercise which he said had been carried out following due process.

In a rejoinder to the media reports copied to DAILY GUIDE, the retired Naval Captain, who is a lawyer, said their law firm, Ankoana Law, is representing a company called Odwuma Lake Farms and Rural Estates Development Limited and that after their client obtained a court order to take possession of the land, they decided to follow due process to secure the land.

He said “our law firm, Ankoana Law, represents a company that owns lands at Abokobi and the company won a case against people who had trespassed on the land. I am only a lawyer in the case.”

“The court executed a writ of possession in my client’s favour as far back as November 2014. Losers and their elements then used hooligans known in local parlance as land guards to re-enter the land, attack our clients and build without any ownership documentation and building permits,” he added.

He continued: “We went back to court and the court, in May this year, granted our request for police and court assistance to repossess the land and remove all unwanted structures on the land.

“This was what was exactly done on July 24, 2015. No military personnel were involved in the exercise and no mosque was destroyed.”

He described the publications as “a veiled attempt to incite the Moslem community against my very person by the caption, Assasie-Gyimah demolishes mosque.”

He said, “what is more worrying is the apparent sinister purpose of introducing the revered name of Sheikh Dr Osumanu Sharabutu into the matter.”

The lawyer said “We respect him and respect his office as well and hoodlums who have no respect for law and order cannot use his name and office for their illegal actions, which are also manifestly in contempt of the Supreme Court.”

He emphasised that “some of us will never give in to these land guards; neither would our client give in to them,” adding, “they seem to be taking over Accra and her lands. We must all respect the law as there are no different laws for different groups.”