Over 100 houses at Ngleshie Amanfro near Kasoa have been pulled down in a controversial demolition exercise on a protracted tract of land on Wednesday morning. About 4000 houses have been marked for demolition. Joy News' Sammy Darko was at the scene and reported that the exercise was conduct under the watch of heavily armed police, numbering about 600, and some land guards. He described the situation as “worrying”, leaving hundreds of residents stranded and frustrated. Affected house owners and tenants wailed uncontrollably while others resisted the exercise fiercely while others yet mustered some courage to salvage their belongings from the debris whilst the exercise was underway. A son of Madam Hilda Attoh Dedei Nettey, who claims ownership of the vast parcel of land, said his mother bought the land some 35 years ago. Even though the tussle over the land has been in court for sometime, he claimed his family won the case in 2004 and was given the order by a Swedru Court to undertake the exercise. His claim was however countered by Rev. Adjetey Larbi, son of the Chief of Ngleshie Amanfro, who said they appealed against the ruling and won it the same year. He said the appeal court set aside the ruling and asked none of the parties to claim ownership of the land until it is otherwise decided by the Stool Land Boundary Commission. It was therefore unjustifiable, he said, for Madam Dedei Naettey to demolish any buildings since no judgment has been given on the 42-mile square plot of land. Rev. Larbi explained that the woman claimed the land was sold to her by a man from the Central Region, but he insisted the land in dispute belongs to the Gas from the Greater Accra Region. Leader of the landowners in the area, Alhaji Salifu who claimed he and his colleagues bought the lands from the Ngleshie Amanfro chiefs, said they have communicated the development to their lawyers for advice on the appropriate steps to be taken. He insisted the lands were rightfully acquired from the chiefs in the area. Some of the affected people complained that they were given just a day’s notice. The police team has been withdrawn. But DCOP Rose Bio-Atinga, Central Police Commander, explained that intelligent reports available to them suggest that the police could be attacked. Story by Isaac Essel