One shot dead, 8 injured over chieftaincy dispute at Odumase-Krobo

A chieftaincy dispute in the Odumase–Krobo has led to the death of one person with eight others sustained gunshot wounds during attacks by a rival chief’s armed men over the weekend in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region.

According to reports, the armed men belonging to one faction were on a procession through the streets of the Adome community with a palanquin to the Nyagyem Festival held over the weekend at Odumase -Krobo amidst sporadic shootings and upon arriving at Adome, in the process allegedly shot one Emmanuel Tetteh Narh, also known as Ozibo who died instantly.

The 55-year-old deceased, with four children, died when the gunmen shot him at close range near his house.

An eyewitness who identified himself as Robert, a nephew of the deceased said he was in the house with the deceased around 7am when they heard sporadic gunshots by the roadside.

According to him, “There were sporadic gunshots by the roadside, my uncle was going there and I told him not to because there were gunshots but he stepped out…I saw one of the gunmen called Tackie pointing his gun at him and the next thing, they fired at him and he fell in the gutter''.

He said the assailants after the act, pursued him but he managed to escape, adding that “When they got there, one of the men pointed to him (victim) and said, 'that's Ozibo,' and they shot him.”

Thereafter the armed men continued with the sporadic shootings for about half a kilometer where they accosted a niece of the deceased, Jasmine Dede Narh together with a male neighbour while on their way to the hospital to follow up on her uncle who had been shot.

The assailants while confronting the woman, shot indiscriminately, injuring eight bystanders including a prison officer, in the process.

The woman who was rushed to the community hospital explained that about six men stopped their car and assaulted the driver.

“As soon as we turned towards the Lasi area, they started shooting the car so I told the driver to stop and he stopped, I saw some goons, about six of them, they pointed the gun at the driver so he raised his hands,” she narrated.

She added that the men, some of whom she identified, assaulted the driver with whips and again pointed the gun at her.

The sporadic shooting on the scene, she said, resulted in gunshot injuries to the victims who were innocent bystanders, adding that “Some people received bullets, left, right, center”.

Some youth of the Adome community managed to capture one of the gunmen who after severe battering told his captors upon interrogation that he was a Dodowa-based driver and had no idea what he got involved in.

The driver identified as Effah Samuel said “I'm a trotro driver who drove them from Dodowa to this place and they dressed me up and asked me to join them, I didn't have any idea what this is all about,”

He was however rescued by the timely arrival of police personnel from the Odumase police station who responded to the disturbances.

The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the mortuary of the St. Martin's De Porres hospital while the victims are receiving treatment at the same facility, as the alleged gunman is also receiving treatment at the hospital under police guard.

—DGN online