A combined team of the police and the military called to beef-up security at a traditional ceremony to outdoor a spiritual chief, who is also in-charge of all the spiritual gods of the Dagbon Traditional Area in the Tamale Metropolis, has clashed with some rebellious youth in Tamale.
The youth marred the beauty of the ceremony by throwing stones at the security agencies, who in turn fired warning shots and teargas to disperse the irate youth. This resulted in several casualties with gunshot
Ten persons have since been admitted at the Tamale Teaching Hospital with severe gunshot wounds. Also on admission is a police constable, Karim Salam, who was hit by a stone. One person whose hand was badly wounded has had the hand amputated.
According to the tradition and customs of Dagbon, the process of installation of such a spiritu al chief includes the entering of the Tamale market to perform some rituals for prosperity. The market has to be deserted and shops around it have to be closed till the spiritual chief (Guma-Naa) finishes the rituals.
The ceremony also symbolized the recognition of the Guma- Naa as the newly installed spiritual head of Dagbon.
The new Dagbon spiritual head, Naa Fuseini, took over from the late Guma-Chief who died last year.
The youth, holding cutlasses and other light weapons, in a joyous mood, allegedly indulged in criminal activities such as looted shops at the Tamale central market and threatened to enter banks. But for the timely intervention of the security agencies things wound have gone very bad.
Speaking to The Statesman in Tamale, the son of the Chief, Wahab Alhassan, condemned the activities of the youth, saying looting and creating tension were not part of the outdooring ceremony.
. "These youth are all criminals who want to mar the beauty of our culture. Nobody is supposed to hold a cutlass or any harmful tool to create panic in the name of this ceremony', he pointed out.
One of the military men assaulted the Regional Chief Imam and some elders at the Central Mosque where one Alhaji One-One was badly wounded in the scuffle.
Meanwhile, over 20 people have been picked up by the security in connection with the disturbances.
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