Elmina, July 12, GNA - A landlord who took the law into his own hands, damaged and seized items belonging to his tenants over rent arrears, was on Friday bonded over to be of good behaviour by a magistrate's court at Elmina.

Isaac Alabi, a bank clerk in Accra, who had pleaded guilty with explanation to offensive conduct and stealing a towel, was asked to be of good behaviour for a year or serve three months in jail. He was in addition asked to pay a compensation of 450,000 cedis for the damage he caused.

Prosecuting, chief inspector Keyward Kobina Adjei, told the court that the complainants, corporal Isaac Yeboah and corporal Thomas Kumah, were both prisons officers at the Ankaful Prisons and had rented rooms in Alabi's house.

He said Alabi decided to eject the two men from his house and demanded that they pay their rent arrears before leaving. The two men, however, failed to do so and on June 24 this year, Alabi, took the law into his own hands and entered Yeboah's room and damaged his gas-cooker.

He then proceeded to Kumah's end and seized his towel while he was having his bath. The two reported the case to the police, Chief Inspector Adjei added.

In another development, four women, from Dutch Komenda near Elmina, were arraigned before the court for allegedly assaulting another women because she belonged to an opposing faction in a chieftaincy dispute. Efua Essuon and Aba Essuon, both traders, were remanded in custody, while Asankoma and Maame Ekua, were granted 10 million cedis with a surety each, to re-appear on July 25.

A fifth accused person, whose name was simply given as Adwowa, failed to appear in court and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest. The case of the prosecution was that the five women belonged to a faction opposed to the chief of the town, while the complainant, Madam Aba Hawa, was on his side.

It alleged that on June 2, this year, Madam Hawa, a fishmonger, engaged a porter to carry home some fish from the beach for her, and while the porter was on her way, Asankomah grabbed some of the fish from the basin.

Madam Hawa confronted her but she denied taking any fish and later in the evening, she and the four others, went to Madam Hawa'a house and assaulted her and further attacked her two days later.