Kpone residents kick against alleged sale of cemetery lands

A group calling itself Aggrieved Kpone Indigenes has expressed outrage over the wanton sale of the Kpone cemetery lands.

The group says portions of the cemetery lands have been sold to industries within a space of five years.

They describe the situation as worrying citing the fear of losing space to bury the dead in future as the alleged incessant sale continues unabated.

In 2015, the youth of the area embarked on a massive demonstration over the development.

During the protest, they pulled down fence walls that were being constructed at the time while some of them also sustained injuries from stray bullets fired by the police to disperse the crowd.

Five years on, the youth are back with similar concerns vowing not to relent until the problem is addressed.

Members of the group have thus threatened to hit the streets if authorities fail to desist from such sales and further give them update on the sales thus far.

The Aggrieved Kpone Indigenes also alleged that even the portion of the cemetery meant to bury their traditional leaders has also been sold out.

They question where they will bury their traditional leaders in the future when they are no more.

“I want to ask, where will our traditional leaders and chiefs be buried when they die? The traditional cemetery where we bury our chiefs has also been sold”, one of the residents lamented.

The Kpone cemetery which is situated a few metres from the main town is said to measure about 39 acres but has now been reduced to about 10-metre square.

Residents complain the cemetery lands are being sold without explanation to the town folks; a situation they find quite worrying.

They complain that not only has the indigenous cemetery been sold to developers, but the portion that traditional leaders are buried has equally been given out.

It is not clear who are those involved in the sales of the cemetery lands to the developers but the Manklalo for the Kpone Traditional council was not too clear with his response but says the issues around the cemetery lands will be addressed.