Nigerian High Commission Demolition:
How Ring Leaders Pocketed Osu Stool’s $500,000 Despite Grabbing GHC15m Booty Disguised as compensation
• Anthony Duke Essien Exposed
Finally, the alleged architect responsible for the 2020 demolition of a Nigerian High Commission building, which almost damaged diplomatic relations between Ghana and Nigeria, has come to light.
Many insiders view Anthony Duke Essien, the Managing Director of BlackGold AKW Investment Limited, as an influence peddler with connections to high-ranking government officials.
After a well-planned plot led to the illegal demolition of a building on the Nigerian High Commission’s compound, the Government and Duke Essien, and a respected individual in the insurance industry forged a covert agreement to compensate the Osu Stool, the ostensible landowner. Available documents confirm the Nigerian High Commission’s genuine acquisition of the land.
The government managed to pay GHC40 million in compensation to Duke Essien and his team, who were fronting the Osu stool, despite the illegal nature of the demolition.
Duke Essien’s Blackgold Company and the Osu Stool had an agreement prior to the government’s compensation that the latter would receive $500,000.
The undertaking, signed by Anthony Duke Essien Blackgold Company on June 18, 2021, stated, “I, Anthony Duke Essien, undertake to pay the amount of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) to Nii Ako Nortei VI upon receipt of payment for the land occupied by the Nigeria High Commission.”
However, Duke Essien and his company have reneged on their promises and left the Osu stool chasing them. The Osu stool’s countless reminders sent to Duke Essien have been ignored.
The documents covering the entire transaction are so damning that they have the potential to sever the relationship between Ghana and Nigeria.
Background
On Friday, June 19, 2020, the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana, located at Osu Ringway in Accra, demolished parts of its one-story structure.
The Osu Stool, which claimed the land belonged to it, accused the Nigerian High Commission of trespassing on its property.
In a statement, the Stool insisted that the Nigerian High Commission has no legal title to the land.
However, contrary to what some members of the public claimed, the demolished Nigeria High Commission building was neither its chancery nor its residence, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
“The building in question is neither the Chancery nor Residence, but a property belonging to the Nigerian High Commission that was unfortunately pulled down by now-identified private individuals,” the Ministry said in a statement signed by the sector minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
In the statement, the Minister also revealed the identification of the act’s perpetrators and their subsequent legal actions.
She also reiterated the Ghanaian government’s resolve to rebuild the demolished structure.
More soon.
source:newsflashafrica.com
