The Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has visited crime scenes where two residents of Nkonya in the Volta Region were murdered last week.
A man believed to be in his 30s and a 17-year-old girl were killed in separate incidents in renewed clashes between residents of Nkonya and Alavanyo communities.
The CID Crime Scene Management Team led by Police General Operations Director, COP Christian Tetteh Yohunu went on a fact-finding mission to establish the circumstances leading to the deaths.
The team examined the crime scenes, collected bullet shells that were littered on the ground and processed the data to aid its investigation of the two deaths.
COP Tetteh Yohunu told Joy News’ Dzifa Bampoh in an interview Tuesday, the team was able to collect the relevant evidence on the scene. He said although the incidents had happened a week ago, the team found the crime scenes uncontaminated by residents of both communities.
“Evidence was intact…nobody was able to go there after the incident so we collected all the things on the scene.”
COP Tetteh Yohunu said the evidence the team has gathered on the scenes is not “wholesale proof” that the police will be able to apprehend the perpetrators. He said the police will be relying on intelligence reports from residents of the two communities to arrest those who are behind the heinous crime.
The land covering an area of 6,459.82 acres has formed the basis for a protracted conflict between the people of Alavanyo and Nkonya. The 100-year-old conflict has resulted in the death of hundreds of people and disruption of a 300-year-old relationship between the two communities.
The disputed land is fertile for agrarian purposes, rich in timber and is alleged to have deposits of gold, clay and mercury.
Experts have said while the conflict is known to have been caused by a boundary dispute, it is the raising of timber, court verdicts, ethnic politics, and the reinvention of history that constitute the major drivers of the dispute.
Government has said it is considering a compulsory acquisition of the land, which has been agreed to by both factions, to end the conflict. The Volta Region Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa said government is looking at how best it could develop the land to make it useful for residents of the two communities.
“The land is fertile and rich in timber. There is a lot of money there and the state can get a lot of money from there,” he said, adding it would be used for a purpose that will not escalate the hostilities.
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