Tempers flare amidst invocation of curses as REGSEC demolishes Kwadaso Onion Market
About one hundred police officers have taking over the Kwadaso Onion Market in the Ashanti Region in a move to relocate them from their current location.
The police officers according to report, were deployed by the Ashanti Regional Security Council REGSEC.
This comes after the traders defied orders by REGSEC to move from their current location to a new one prepared by the Kwadaso Municipal Assembly.
OTEC News Reporter Jacob Agyenim Boateng who visited the market on Monday April 22, 2024 reported that, most of the traders had their goods in the market although the ultimatum by the Regional Security Council REGSEC had expired.
Security men at the market have ordered the traders to get their wares out of the place or risk losing them.
Police arrests and invocations curses
Police in the Ashanti Region has arrested two persons for invoking curses on the Ashanti Regional Minister Hon Simon Osei and the Municipal chief Executive for Kwadaso Hon Agyenim Boateng Richmond.
The suspects who claimed to be royals of Kwadado were protesting relocation of traders at the Kwadaso Onion Market.
One the suspects, Nana J. B was captured in a video invoking curse on the Minister and the MCE with a bottle of schnap with the other one who is yet to be identified backing him
MCEs justification
Meanwhile, the Municipal Chief Executive for Kwadaso, Hon Agyenim Boateng Richmond in an earlier interview with OTEC News warned they will use force if traders resist the relocation exercise.
He said the insistence on the move was necessary to decongest the area and allow for free flow of traffic. The MCE explained that enough consultations had gone into relocating the traders and so he was surprised that they still refused to move.
Background
The Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) on April 4, 2024, gave onion traders at Kwadaso Onion Market a three-week ultimatum to relocate to a new site in Atwima Takyiman.
This decision comes after a series of security challenges and accidents at the current trading location, including the tragic death of a 45-year-old woman and injuries sustained by another man. REGSEC, in a press statement, expressed concerns over the escalating security risks at the existing market site.
It emphasized that it can no longer oversee the safety of traders and visitors at the current location which has been earmarked for demolition. The Council cautioned traders to respect this directive ahead of the exercise which takes of 22 April 2024.
Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/Jacob Ahyemin Boateng
