Tema Mantse draws Akufo-Addo’s attention to vigilantism at sea
The Industrial City King, Dr. Nii Adjei Kraku ll, has decried the exhibition of vigilantism at sea at Prampram, close to Tema, and wants the authorities to stem it to avoid any conflict among the Greater Accra fishing community.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Saturday, Nii expressed concern about a culture of mob justice in Prampram, where the chief fisherman for the area organised people to attack fishermen from Tema and other parts of Accra in the name of fighting illegal fishing methods.
“The latest is the seizure of more than 100 crates of fish belonging to fishermen from Tema, who went there to Prampram to fish. The vigilante groups on the seas of Prampram say they are enforcing the law against illegal fishing methods; the question is who gave them the power to do what they are doing when we have the marine Police and the Navy available?” He asked.
He warned that the continuous harassment of fishermen by members of the fishing community in Prampram could lead to reprisals from the people in Tema and Accra if they were not stopped.
“I just hope President Akufo-Addo and the Government is observing these provocations for themselves and I hope something will be done to end it because we are beginning to lose our patience,” Nii Tema said.
The Tema Mantse’s complaint is in regards to the latest attack on fishermen from Tema by members of the fishing community in Prampram.
The Prampram sea vigilante group, said to be led by their chief fishermen allegedly set upon the Tema fishermen and subjected them to beatings for allegedly using illegal methods to fish in the sea there.
The vigilante group also allegedly seized some 100 crates of fish that the Tema fishermen harvested.
The victims have since reported the case to the Police. However, as Nii Adjei Kraku II pointed out, it was not the first time that such attacks took place, and it was not only fishermen from Tema that suffered such fate.
“In the past, fishermen from Teshie, Labadi and Nungua were similarly attacked by the people of Prampram. Do they think that it would be a good thing if they are similarly set upon and assaulted when they come around our areas and fish?”
He said he would never condone illegal fishing, but pointed out that if even it was true that the fishermen that had been assaulted had used illegal methods to harvest their fish, there was the marine police and the Navy to report them to.
“Or better still, there is even the Police to hand them over to, rather than assault them and seize their catch,” Tema Mantse said.
He called on the fisheries Ministry to call the people of Prampram to order before things get out of hand and provoke reprisals from fishing communities in places like Nungua, Teshie and Labadi.
Source: GNA