A nine-year-old girl who watched armed police officers enter her family's home during an eviction exercise at Savanna Junction near Tema Community 25 says she is struggling to come to terms with the experience as dozens of residents remain displaced 24 hours after being forced from their properties.

The child, whose family has lived in the area for more than a decade, described the fear and confusion she felt when police officers, some reportedly wearing masks, arrived to enforce a court judgment over a long-running land dispute.

"I just realised my father and my mother were fighting for the house, and I've not really seen somebody holding like a real gun," she said. "I've only seen water guns, those playful toys. And I was really, really traumatised."

The young girl said her mother tried to reassure her as the family prepared to leave the only home she had known.

"My mother came to me, and she was like, 'Everything is going to be okay,'" she recalled.

Despite the reassurance, she admitted the situation has left her deeply upset.

"Deep down right now, I'm very sad leaving my home and going to a new home for some days," she said.

The girl's family is among several households affected by an eviction exercise carried out on the morning of Wednesday, June 3, after a private developer, supported by armed police personnel, moved to enforce a court ruling declaring him the rightful owner of the disputed land.

The operation left families scrambling to save their belongings as household items were removed from homes and placed outside.

Many residents insist they legally purchased their plots from individuals they believed were the rightful owners and had relied on earlier court decisions that appeared to support those claims.

Standing outside her locked gate, the girl's mother, identified as Abba, described the emotional toll the eviction has taken on her family.

For 13 years, the four-bedroom house had been home to Abba, her husband, their four children, and other relatives. Now, a truck and pickup vehicle loaded with the family's possessions stand outside as they search for a new place to stay.

Abba said the family felt powerless in the face of the heavily armed officers who accompanied the eviction team.

"We were forced out, I should say, because we are dealing with armed men," she said.

"The last thing you would want to do is to hustle with men that are armed."

According to her, officials entered every part of the house while carrying out the operation.

"They just had to force their way. In fact, they were the same people who went into our bedrooms, everywhere, to get our things out of the house," she said.

The family's plight gained public attention after Abba shared her story on Joy FM's Super Morning Show. She says that the appeal unexpectedly led to help arriving from a member of the public.

"Thank you to Joy FM. A good Samaritan came through for us," she said.

"Just when we had ended that call, somebody called and offered a place so that we can quickly put our stuff in there as we figure out the next course of action."

While Abba's family has found temporary shelter, many other residents remain uncertain about where they will spend the coming days.

Among them is resident Kin Lumor, whose five-bedroom house has also been locked up following the court-ordered exercise.

"Do I even know where I'm sleeping today?" he asked.

"I can't pack my things for the village today. So I'll see what I can do."

When JoyNews reporters visited the community on Wednesday, several residents were seen loading furniture, appliances, and other belongings onto trucks as they prepared to leave the area.

The atmosphere was marked by uncertainty and frustration, with many residents saying they had invested their life savings in properties they believed they owned legally.

The affected families insist they legally acquired the land from a previous owner and say they relied on an earlier court ruling that recognized the seller's ownership.

They say they were neither notified of the latest judgment nor given prior notice before the eviction was carried out.

But for one nine-year-old girl, the experience will be remembered less as a legal battle and more as the day armed officers arrived at her home and forced her family to leave.

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9-year-old child traumatized after police force family out of home

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