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’66 Artillery Regiment won’t relocate shooting range’

The 66 Artillery Regiment in Ho has responded to the call by the chiefs of Kpenoe, near Ho, for the relocation of the regiment’s shooting range, as baseless.

The Commanding Officer of the unit, Lt Col B. B. Pantoah, said in an exclusive interview with the Ghanaian Times in Ho, yesterday, that the chiefs claim of military brutalities towards the people of Kpenoe were also speculative.

The chiefs of Kpenoe earlier this week called for the immediate relocation of the shooting range of the 66 Artillery Regiment, saying the military exercises at the range were unleashing terror on the community.

They have also appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to intervene and save the people of Kpenoe from persistent brutalities at the hands of soldiers from the unit.

Togbe Kotoku XI, Paramount Chief of Kpenoe, said at a press conference here on Tuesday that the soldiers had moved far beyond the boundary of the shooting range, to claim vast portions of farmlands of the community, thereby, depriving the people of their livelihood.

“Now bullets fired from the range are straying into our community and our lives are at risk,” he said.

According to Togbe Kotoku, farmers from Kpenoe were usually seized on their farms by soldiers and subjected to severe physical torture.

He cited the case of one Reverend Elikplim Atidiga, who he said was manhandled recently by the soldiers, who also seized his cellular phone, and displayed some bullets, which were handpicked in the community, to buttress his point.

Togbe Kotoku recalled that the military was allotted 483.34 acres of land to build the facility more than 50 years ago, and that took away the cocoa, coffee and timber lands from the Kpenoe community.

He stated that the soldiers had now erected pillars to now annex more than 1000 acres of land without any consultation with the chiefs and people of Kpenoe.

According to Togbe Kotoku, the situation has prevented the youth of Kpenoe from engaging in farming, and compeled them to resort to stone cracking.

He said that after the government acquired the land for the shooting range in 1969, no proper compensation had been paid to the land owners.

However, when the Ghanaian Times contacted Lt. Col. Pantoah, yesterday, he said it was rather some residents of Kponoe, who persistently defied the boundary between the garrison and the community in recent times, to enter the military zone.

He said the allegations levelled by the chiefs against the unit were speculative, adding that owners of the land on which the firing range was located, were fully paid their compensation.

“This can readily be verified at the Lands Commission at the regional and national levels”, Lt Col Pantoah said, and re-affirmed the stance of the 66 Artillery Regiment to live in peace with the civilian population.

FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, KPENOE

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