The Chief of Dededo in the Ho West District of the Volta Region, Togbe Azadagli I, has called on the security agencies, particularly the police, to help flush out criminals who are gradually infiltrating the community.

Describing the community as once peaceful and noted for the practice of high christian values, the Chief beseeched the police to help Dededo regain its good name in the District in particular and the region in general.

Togbe Azadagli explained that the Dededo community, founded by the Leader of the Apostles Revelation Society (ARS), the late Prophet C.K.N Wovenu in 1961, was basically a christian community, made up of seven existing communities from seven different areas in the country and settled them at their current location.

He continued that since the community was founded, its members had been compelled to abide by 12 rules, as God presented to them, through Prophet Wovenu to the people to enable them to live happily, worship God and contribute meaningfully to national development.

Togbe Azadagli, who made the call at Dededo when he briefed the media on current developments in the community, pointed out that the Dededo community was one of the peaceful settler christian communities in the Volta Region and that during the period of conflict between the people of Awudome-Tsito and Peki, Dededo remained the only community that was not affected, even during the war. They were only concerned about bringing the two feuding parties together.

But in recent times, the community has seen the infiltration of people who did not share the same Christian values of the people of Dededo. They embark on criminal activities, thereby tarnishing the hard-earned image of the community, which has had no criminal records since 1961.

Togbe Azadagli expressed concern over the arrest of some youth in the area for their involvement in the cultivation and sale of India hemp popularly, called “wee”, a development the chief stressed was alien to the people of Dededo because members of the community were God fearing and would not embark on any such criminal activities.

He, however, disowned the youth as members of the Dededo community, describing them as infiltrators, as he urged the law enforcement agencies to, as a matter of importance, arrest and prosecute people engaged in criminal activities in and around Dededo.

Togbe Azadagli disclosed that the arrest of the youth was a shock to members of the community, both home and abroad, and as a result the youth of Dededo held a meeting on the matter, where they arrived at the decision to hand over any unwanted elements in the community to the law enforcement agencies.

He continued that: “the members of the Dededo community would not condone with anybody calling him or herself a member of the Dededo community who would engage in criminal activities for the youth, the chiefs and leaders of the ARS at Dededo are committed to supporting the police to deal decisively with anybody found to have violated the law.”

Togbe Azadagli also expressed concern about the upsurge in teenage pregnancy among Junior High School girls in the town, a trend he described as strange to the community members, saying these negative activities that were showing up in the town would be dealt with because the chiefs, the youth and church leaders have started initiating moves to contain the situation.

He said as a first step, he and the elders in the community had met with the Head master of the school and would work hard to identify the parents of the pregnant girls, as well as the men responsible for the pregnancies.

The chief commended the media for the part they continued to play in nation building. He appealed to them to cooperate with them to expose criminal activities and other negative practices that were against the religious practices and beliefs of the people of Dededo.

A Former Secretary to the Dededo Youth, Mr.Rockson Agbanator, said the current development was seen by the youth as a calculated attempt by non-members of the ARS Church to tarnish the image of the community, saying “at my age I have not seen ‘wee’ with my naked eyes before, let alone to trade with it.”

Mr. Agbanator pointed out that due to the cherished values impacted in them by the ARS Church, coupled with the type of training given to him by his parents, which was similar in the case of the youth of Dededo, they would never embark on any criminal acts.