It has emerged that the armed invasion of Radio Ada, a community-based radio station at Ada in the Greater Accra Region by thugs is a result of the station’s continuous discussions on the Songhor Lagoon project in the town.
Management of the media house says, the yet-to-be-identified hoodlums who attacked the station and unleashed violence on some staff members, warned the station to cease programming on the project or face a series of attacks.
On Thursday, January 13, 2022, some thugs besieged the premises of the radio station, assaulted a presenter, manhandled other workers, and destroyed some of the station’s machines.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, Deputy Station Manager of the company, Noah Dameh, disclosed that the station’s broadcast on the project has become of a story of concern to the indigenes brought on the assault suffered by some of his employees and the destruction of the property.
“We have been producing shows on the Songhor Lagoon that has been leased to Electrochem. We have been serializing the lease agreement among others, and we think that that is why they are looking for us. Before, the thugs left, they told us to stop broadcasting materials on the Songhor Lagoon. That is the warning that they gave us”, he revealed.
There have been protests by some concerned residents in Ada about current arrangements to revive the salt lagoon.
The indigenes who claim to be the custodial owners of the Songhor lagoon embarked on a demonstration to protest against the mining lease granted to Electrochem Ghana Limited to mine salt in the area.
The mining lease according to the people of Ada did not take into consideration the economic plight of the locals, whose sole livelihood depends on the Songhor lagoon.
The locals claimed the lease will not only take away their source of livelihood but deprive them of their lands.
They at the time said they were ready to fight the lease to the latter should government fail to heed their request.
But chiefs in the township have backed the Government-Electrochem partnership.
The attack
The weapon-wielding thugs numbering about 10 according to reports gathered by citinewsroom.com ransacked some of the station’s offices and beat up two of its staff members.
They first manhandled some staff members of the station, who had refused to disclose the whereabouts of some senior management members the thugs had asked about.
Later, they stormed one of the station’s studios and assaulted the presenter, and vandalized some equipment in there.
Julius Odoi, In-charge of Programmes and External Communications at Radio Ada confirmed the attack.
“When the presenter in the studio realized that the thugs were coming in, he shut the door, but the thugs forced and broke into it. So he asked them why they had entered the studio, and they started slapping him. They also removed the monitor and the other equipment in the studio and damaged them.”
“The presenter was hit in the stomach as they destroyed everything. From there, the thugs moved out and asked other staff members to kneel down, warning them to stop some of the programs we have been hosting”, he said.
