Mr. Kwabena Frimpong, a 56-year old community activist, popularly known for his unflinching stand against the Newmont mining project in Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve in the Eastern Region, was arrested from his family house at Adausena by four armed policemen at about 2pm last Tuesday and sent to the New Abirem police station, which was built by Newmont in 2007.
The Enquirer learnt that the police did not tell him the reason for his arrest and also did not take his statement, but kept him in police cells without bail overnight.
According to Mr. Frimpong, when he was sent to the New Abirem police station, the police woman on duty told him “today you would not be allowed to go home.”
According to him, this gave him an idea that there had been a plan to detain him in police cells at all cost.
True to his suspicion, the police, led by one Inspector Tetteh, did everything possible to detain him overnight, without telling him the reason for his detention until about 2pm the next day.
Mr. Frimpong was arrested upon a complaint lodged with the police by Nana Boni Abankoro V (alias Thompson) who carries himself as the chief of Aduasena. The self-styled chief had alleged that Mr. Frimpong threatened him with death, an allegation he vehemently denies and said it was part of a grand design to frame him up.
It would be noted that Nana Abankoro V is among four chiefs from the Akyem Kotoku area, who were believed to have been influenced by Newmont with a total amount of $42,000 to spearhead a communiqué in support of the Newmont Akyem Project to the UN Commission on Human Rights, which had queried the government over the mining firm’s project at Akyem, especially its effects on the Ajenua Bepo Forest.
Mr. Frimpong, in an interview with The Enquirer, after being granted bail at about 8 pm on Wednesday, this week, said that Inspector Tetteh initially gave the impression that he was arrested on the instructions of the BNI in Akim Oda and that it was the BNI that would interrogate him.
He was kept in the police cells until 2pm the next day, May 5 when he was permitted to write his statement based on the allegation that he had threatened to kill Nana Boni Abankoro V.
He explained that his deceased father, Nana Ntiamoa Kofi III, was the chief of Aduasena and when he died, he bequeathed a large land estate in Adausena and Yayaso to his children. Currently, there are about 46 tenants occupying their land.
A greater portion of their land estate is the concession of the Newmont Akyem project and they are opposed to the project because they want to protect the land that had been bequeathed to them by their deceased father, for generations after them.
Mr. Frimpong explained that being the landowners, they had cautioned their tenants against giving out any portion of their lands to Newmont for the project and were surprised to learn that Nana Abankoro had presented himself to Newmont as the owner.
He contended that he accused Nana Abankoro of dishonestly presenting himself as the owner of their land, but never threatened to kill him.
According to Mr. Frimpong, he is prepared to fight to protect his ancestral lands through any legal means.
Nana Abankoro is one of the chiefs who had benefitted from the large sums of monies paid by Newmont.
It is believed that the case would be placed before a court by Monday, next week and the people in Adausena are speculating that it would be sent to a court in Mpraeso and if that happens, it would heighten the suspicions of the people on who is behind the case.
Most people in Yayaso and Adausena who would be affected by the Newmont Akyem project see Kwabena Frimpong as a selfless leader championing their cause.
“Judging from the behaviour of the chief and the police, we suspect that there is an invisible hand behind the case,” one of the people in the Yayaso community told The Enquirer.
When The Enquirer spoke to Inspector Tetteh on phone explain why Mr. Frimpong was detained overnight without telling him his crime and not allowing him to write his statement, he screamed, saying “you are calling from Enquirer and so what? You journalists stay in Accra and write anything. If you want to talk to me come to New Abirem.” Stay tuned
Source- The Enquirer
