21 houses burnt down

Some of the displaced residents

CONFUSION OVER the construction of speed ramps between two communities has led to the razing down of 21 houses, including a tailoring shop at Nakpaya near Nasia in the West Mamprusi District of the Northern Region.

Dozens of residents have been rendered homeless while several properties, including barns of stored food items valued at several thousands of Ghana cedis, have been destroyed.

As at press time, officials of the West Mamprusi National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) were on the ground accessing the situation to find temporary accommodation for displaced persons.   

A number of armed police and military personnel have been deployed to the area to restore calm while patrols have also been stepped up.

Sources revealed to DAILY GUIDE that residents of Nakpaya constructed the ramps to reduce the speed with which vehicles passed through the area and the hazardous dust they produced after receiving the blessing of their chief.  

It is reported that one Abdul Rashid, a taxi driver plying the area, destroyed the ramps, a situation that provoked residents, but they reconstructed them.

According to our sources, Abdul Rashid, after noticing that the speed ramps had been redone, tried again to destroy them, but he was pounced on and subjected to a gruesome trashing.

He was rescued by some good Samaritans and the matter was reported to the Nasia Police, who launched investigations into the matter. But before any action could be taken, purported supporters of the taxi driver from Janga stormed the Nakpaya community and set a number of houses ablaze.

Stocked foodstuffs in barns were not spared as the inferno swept through the toils of residents, some of whom are now putting up with friends in neighbouring communities.

DAILY GUIDE however gathered that the problem had some chieftaincy undertones, as both factions are allegedly engaged in a long-standing unresolved chieftaincy feud which was covered up by the speed ramps issue.  

Abdulai Zakaria Lord, the West Mamprusi District Chief Executive (DCE), when contacted, confirmed the skirmishes but told DAILY GUIDE the situation is currently under control, hinting that both parties had been talked to.

According to him, a team of personnel from NADMO were on the ground to feed his outfit with adequate figures of displaced persons and enable him provide assistance.

He cautioned the people of the area to desist from taking the law into their own hands and advised that they use appropriate channels to address their grievances rather than always resorting to taking up arms or burning property.

Mr. Zakaria disclosed to DAILY GUIDE that members of the District Security Committee (DISEC) have since visited the area and initiated talks with the feuding factions, to find an amicable solution.

He however warned that anyone found culpable after the investigations, irrespective of his religious and political affiliation, would be dealt with according to the prescriptions of the law.

From Stephen Zoure, Walewale