Adaklu Lion Chief Amputated

The chief on his hospital bed THE 54-YEAR-OLD chief of Adaklu Workpe, a farming community within the Adaklu Anyigbe District, who was allegedly attacked by a lion, has had his left arm amputated, DAILY GUIDE investigation indicates.

At the time of our visit to the hospital yesterday morning, the man could not be located on his bed and enquiries revealed that he had been sent to the theatre for his left arm to be severed off due to the immeasurable damage the animal caused it.

A subsequent visit by DAILY GUIDE later in the evening confirmed the chief's hand had been cut off.

He was in so much pain at the time of the visit that he could not talk to us but medical officers at the hospital said the amputation had become necessary to save the man from joining his ancestors prematurely.

During the morning visit, the entrance of the male ward, where Torgbe Dzamesi was located before he was taken for the surgery, had been taken over by relatives of the chief who went there to sympathize with him.

The situation was not different in the evening but the number had increased. A relative who spoke with this paper could not hide her sadness, explaining that the man had been the bread winner of the family.

She was however consoled by the fact that the chief was alive even though his left arm had been cut off.

A hospital official, who spoke with this paper on anonymity, explained that the amputation was in the best interest of the chief since the attack on that side of the body was so intense that anything apart from surgery would have made his situation worse.

According to the official, some bones in the left arm of the chief had been severely affected, and that though the man had been responding to treatment, the condition of the arm was a source of worry to them all.

Unofficial information available to this paper also pointed out that the arm was so infected that the flesh on it had worn off, exposing the bone- another reason for which that arm needed to be severed off.

It would be recalled that the chief of Adaklu Workpe, a farming village which has a population of about 50 inhabitants, was allegedly attacked by a lion when he went to inspect his new farm land.

The chief, known in private life as Daniel Agbeda, was subsequently taken to the Volta Regional Hospital where he had been receiving treatment for over a month now.

At a point, his condition deteriorated so much that many feared he would lose his life but the intense care from the medical officers improved his condition to the extent that he could do a lot of things on his own at the hospital, including answering the call of nature by himself.

Angered by the attack by the carnivorous animal, the youth embarked on a search which was supported on the first day by the police but the search which continued for days was finally curtailed because they could not trace the animal.

Subsequent reports by this paper revealed that evidences of the animal's presence were found at villages such as Abutia Kloe, Kissiflui and Kpota where it allegedly devoured some cattle and other animals and left its paw prints, pictures of which the paper published in its previous reports.

Similar evidences of the animal's presence were later found at Juapong and recently at Akrofu in the Ho municipality.

The development has resulted in panic among residents including farmers, school children and market women who often use some foot paths in the bush to get to their various destinations.

Residents of the region on various platforms had called on the government to pay serious attention to the situation to prevent further calamities.

From Wise Donkor, Ho