Management of Glee Filling Station have accused the Proprietor of Obek Preparatory School in Manhyia in the Ga West District of the Greater Accra Region, Mr Emmanuel Oduro, of being behind the destruction of their property in the area.
According to the Director of Operations of Glee Filling Station, Alhaji Musa Nartey, Mr Oduro, whose school is close to where his outfit intends to site another filling station, has vowed to resist them, hence the latter’s move to use the youth in the area to cause mayhem.
Speaking to Today in an interview over the weekend, Glee operations director said his company legally acquired the said land for that project about seventeen (17) years ago before Mr Oduro came to the area to build his house which he is now using part as a school.
“We [Glee] were here before he built his school, so we don’t understand why he is bent on stopping us from doing a legitimate business which at the end will give employment to the youth in area,” he said.
Alhaji Musa alleged that the proprietor of Obek Preparatory School hired some thugs to break their wall and destroy the louvers of their building.
He further alleged that Mr Oduro went to the chief of Manhean to re-sell the said land to him.
This, Alhaji Musa indicated, happened while they were waiting for permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Town and Country Planning (TCP) and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to commence operation.
According to him, Mr Oduro is only interested in the land, contrary to his claim that he is against the siting of the filling station.
Alhai Musa said that series of meetings they had had with Mr Oduro in the past at the request of the Manhyia chief, EPA and Anyaa Police Commander, Osei Shaibu, have yielded no results as Mr Oduro was not ready to let them use the land for its intended purpose.
At one of their meetings in the presence of the Anyaa police commander, Alhaji Musa alleged that Mr Oduro, who claimed he was a card-bearing member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), accused the co-partner of Glee Filling Station of murdering a resident in the area over the siting of the filling station.
He further alleged that Mr Oduro at the said meeting threatened to inform the National Security Minister, Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, to use his influence to stop them.
Alhaji Musa, who was not enthused about the constant harassment by Mr Oduro and his cohorts anytime they go to the site to work, appealed to the authorities to intervene so as to avoid any future bloodshed.
Meanwhile, when Today contacted Mr Oduro via telephone on Saturday, November 11, 2017 he denied flatly all the allegations levelled against him.
He, however, said his contention rather was where the yet-to-be operated filling station was being sited.
“My school is very close to where the filling station is, and I can’t sit down and watch them do that,” he said.
“My brother [referring to this reporter] we are talking about the lives of the school children who come to school every day,” he said.
When asked why he would not allow the appropriate authorities to handle the situation having petitioned them, he said, they were being too slow for his liking.
Story: Atta Kwaku Boadi