A caretaker of his late aunt’s property at East Legon in the Greater Accra region Richard Benjamin Acquaye, has denied that he sold his late aunt’s land to one Daniel Nii Laryea Martey contrary to what is being bandied about.
Bu he is accusing Nii Laryea Martey of allegedly using financial inducement, lies, deceit and fictitious land documents in a bid to forcibly take possession of the said land.
Benjamin Acquaye said Nii Laryea Martey and Aziz Suhiyni started their plot to illegally take over the said land when they asked him whether his aunt’s land which had a house on it was for sale.
He said he told them he (Benjamin Acquaye) would ask his three cousins abroad whether the property would be sold. Nii Laryea Martey and Abdul Aziz Sununi then told him that they were in charge of signature of land documents at Lands Commission.
Nii Laryea Martey and Aziz Suhiyni per the of Benjamin Acquaye also said they had bought all those who mattered when it comes to taking important decisions at Land Commission and Ghana Police Service.
Nii Laryea Martey then promised Benjamin Acquaye that if he was able to facilitate the sale of his aunt’s property to him, he would reward him with an amount of $60,000. Nii Laryea Martey then gave him an amount of Ghc3,000 to enable him buy call credit to call his cousins who were at abroad.
Benjamin Acquaye told this newspaper in an interview in Accra that, Nii Laryea Martey also gave him an amount of $10, 000 two times on separate occasions.
Nii Laryea Martey, according to the account of Benjamin Acquaye, also took pictures and details of the obituary posters of his late cousin whose name was Herbert.
Benjamin Acquaye said last year, he was surprised when land guards invaded his aunt’s property to possessed it. He said he fought with them and drove them away from the house.
In July 2023, Benjamin Acquaye said at 12am, while it was raining, the land guards came again and destroyed the roof of his aunt’s house.
According to him, he reported the matter to the police and briefed his cousins abroad about what had happened.
As a result, his cousins abroad came to Ghana and were subsequently invited to the police headquarters. Before the meeting with the police, Benjamin Acquaye said Nii Laryea Martey and Abdul Sununi told him to lie to the police officers in charge of the matter that his late cousin Herbert took 90, 000 dollars from them.
In the said meeting with the police officers in charge of the matter namely “Bawah,Oppong (the investigator)and his cousins from abroad, Benjamin Acquaye said, he lied to the police officers that the late Herbert took 90,000 dollars from Nii Laryea Martey and Abdul Aziz Sununi.
With the passage of time, Benjamin Acquaye said he realized that the lie he had told the police officers at the police headquarters was wrong and therefore made another report at Accra regional police headquarters in order to correct the wrong.
Benjamin Acquaye told CID officers at regional police headquarters his narration at the police headquarters was false and that Nii Laryea Martey and Abdul Sununi did not even know the late Herbert before he died.
He also told CID officers that he (Benjamin Acquaye) is not the right person to sell his late Aunt’s property and that Nii Laryea Martey wanted to use fictitious land documents in a bid to illegally take over his aunt’s land.
