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A former Detroit activist and her sister have been murdered in Ghana and now the family has started a crowdfunding campaign to bring their remains home.

In the early 1970s Jeannette Salters was an African-American activist before deciding to discover her roots and move to Ghana. She also changed her name to Mamelena Diop. Her sister, Nzinga Janna, relocated as well.

According to Ghanaian online news site,  two men have been arrested in connection to the murders of Diop, 75, and Janna, 60, who were found near their home.

“I feel terrible about what happened,” Diop’s son, Greg Salters of Detroit told Clutch. “It’s a tragedy. Words can’t even explain how I feel about my mom being taken away from her home, murdered and put in a shallow grave 300 feet from her home.”

According to the Salters family, Diop was killed because people wanted the land she acquired from the government.

“My mom went to court over that” and won,” said Salters. “I guess the locals decided they were going to take matters into their own hands. And they decided to abduct and murder them.”

After the sisters went missing a week ago, a worried friend broke into their house and found blood and the object used to kill them. Police later found where the burial ground.

According to the GoFundMe page the sisters had been living in fear after threats on their lives and since a Ghanaian tribal chief forcibly moved to take over one of their houses. Things grew scarier when their dogs were poisoned.

“She loved that place,” said Diop’s daughter Cheryl Salters. “She loved Africa. The people were nice.”

So far the family has raised just over $3,000 of the $30,000 goal.

 

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