One person has died with several others in critical condition following a violent shootout between land guards and local youth at Coaltar in the Ayensuano district of the Eastern region.
The Thursday, January 16, 2025 incident has left residents in shock, as eyewitnesses recount that tensions had been rife.
Reports indicate the residents went on rampage with the land guards following the illegal takeover of their farmlands.
OnuaOnline gathered on Thursday that the chief of Coaltar, Barimah Okekrebesi Asiedu, had just concluded his regular meeting of settling disputes and briefing about the state of the community and matters arising before the violence begun outside his palace.
“We had just finished the council meeting and were on our way out when we encountered the angry youth. We have told the farmers we are ready to compensate them for any lands taken for the developers, but they have refused to listen,” one of the elders explained.
The youth had barricaded a section of the road using tyres and wood, armed with machetes unknown to council members. They proceeded to vandalise the chief’s palace.
The youths’ protest was aimed at resisting the chief and the traditional council’s decision to offer agricultural lands to developers from Jamaica.
Despite initial police intervention to disperse the angry youth on the road, the situation quickly escalated. A fierce shootout erupted between land guards hired by the chief and the youth, who vehemently opposed the land deal.
The deadly confrontation left one person dead and a number of others critically injured who are receiving care at the Koforidua Central Hospital. The body is with the Eastern Regional Police Command.
The conflict at Coaltar highlights the growing tensions surrounding land ownership, particularly in the Ayensuano district, where a large portion of the population relies on subsistence farming.
Issues such as illegal sand winning and contested land ownership have further fueled distrust, threatening the peaceful coexistence of the community.
By Yvonne Neequaye
