Gunshots In Yendi

ACP Awuni Angwutuboge

TENSION HAS engulfed the Yendi municipality and surrounding communities following the arrest of 41 members of the Abudu Royal Family in the early hours of Saturday by armed military and police personnel believed to have come from Accra.

Prominent among those arrested were Mba Duku Iddrisu, Alhaji Baba Zohi, Mohammed Champong and his brother Baba Champong, Yidana Sugri and Kwame Achiri, all elders of the Abudu Royal Family.

The relative peace in Yendi and Dagbon was replaced by tension and gunshots after the arrest in a dawn swoop last Saturday.

They were whisked to Accra as President John Evans Atta Mills succumbs to pressure from the Andani Royal Gate to fulfill his election promise of arresting the alleged killers of the late Ya Na Yakubu Andani II who was murdered eight years ago.

The burning of tires and other acts of defiance rocked the Yendi municipality immediately news about the arrests reached the Abudu Gate, with their youth taking to the streets.

There is heavy deployment of military personnel to quell any unforeseen uprising that would result from the swoop.

Sunday's major Market Day in this traditional capital of Dagbon was scuttled, as armed soldiers turned away traders, some of whom had come from as far as the Togolese town of Sokode.

The inclusion of sub-chiefs and elders in the swoop has further heightened tensions in the area, with fears of possible reprisals against the arrest by the about 50 uniformed personnel who stormed the town while residents were fast asleep.

Sources told DAILY GUIDE that the security operatives who came in about 25 vehicles including armored tanks, ransacked homes in a bid to retrieve weapons before arresting the targeted persons.

Reasons have so far not been given for the actions of the security personnel, but DAILY GUIDE gathered it is in connection with the murder of the late Ya-na Yakubu Andani II and his subjects eight years ago.   

DAILY GUIDE was told that the suspects were screened at the Bimbilla Presbyterian Training College (BIMBICO) before being taken to Accra where, it is learnt, charges would be preferred against them at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

Those arrested and distributed among a number of police stations in Accra, the CID headquarters and the Greater Accra headquarters of the BNI are Mba Dugu, Zohe Gbanglana, Yidana Sugri (one of those tried for the alleged murder of the late Ya Na), Kwame Achire, Alhassan Kpatuya, Mohammed Juwa, Mohammed Shaibu aka Oje, and Samasama who was picked up in Accra.

DAILY GUIDE has learnt that Mbadugu is being held at the CID headquarters, Zohe Gbanglana, Cantonments Police Station, Kwame Achire, Nima Police Station, Samasama at BNI Greater Accra Regional headquarters and the rest at unknown security locations in Accra.

Yidana Sugri and Iddrisu Jahanfo were the two tried earlier for the murder of the late Ya Na, a charge which was based on allegations that the two were seen holding the body parts of the  murdered Dagbon Overlord.

Observers think that Iddrisu Jahanfo was spared the arrest because of his support for the Independent candidate in the last parliamentary election, which paved the way for an NDC victory in the constituency.

Yidana Sugri on the other hand was an open supporter of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

The Abudu Gate regent, Boli Lana's planned arrest was shelved following security advice that the action, without the arrest of Lawyer Ibrahim Mahama, would trigger a bloody confrontation that would get out of control.

Lt. Gen. Joshua Hamidu (rtd), one-time Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and National Security Advisor to President John Agyekum Kufuor and a civil engineer and contractor, who is also a leading member of the NPP, is also being considered for arrests, DAILY GUIDE has been hinted.

Youth of the area, some of whom DAILY GUIDE spoke to, have expressed surprise at the manner in which the arrests were done, saying it is politically motivated.

Alhassan Iddrisu Dokurugu, Secretary to the Bolinlana, when contacted, confirmed the arrests to DAILY GUIDE and disclosed that it comprised the youth, elders and sub chiefs of the Abudu Royal Family.  

He also confirmed that armed men ransacked various houses, and yet they could not find a single weapon. He was worried that the whereabouts of the suspects are not immediately known, as their mobile phones are switched off.

The regent's scribe told DAILY GUIDE that efforts are underway to reach their lawyers to assist them find their relations.

The Northern Regional Minister, who doubles as Chairman of the Regional Security Committee (REGSEC), Moses Bukari Mabengba, denied knowledge of the operation, saying he was yet to receive a briefing from the security agencies.

He expressed surprise at the incident but promised to furnish DAILY GUIDE with details once he receives adequate briefing on the matter.

The Northern Regional Police Commander, ACP Awuni Angwubutoge, on the other hand, admitted being informed by the operation leading to the arrest, but said it was on instructions from the CID headquarters.

The police chief disclosed that the men who carried out the operation were from Accra and not personnel under his jurisdiction, but would not disclose reasons for the arrests.

The incident however comes exactly a week after members of the Andani Gate pressured government to arrest the killers of the late Ya-Na and 40 of his subjects in 2002.

They threatened to go on a rampage if government fails to heed their concerns in the ultimatum issued to it in view of the fact that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) promised the Andanis during its campaigns to fish out the killers of the late overlord.

As at press time, relations of the arrested persons were said to be mounting pressure on the police in the area to seek their whereabouts.

The Dagbon Overlord was murdered in March 2002 alongside other elders, in circumstances which have since baffled investigators.

The Abudus and Andanis are both descendants of the same man but separated by polygamy, a development which has led to the creation of the Abudu and Andani Royal Gates.

With the politicization of what has remained a conundrum, the Abudus were said to have pitched camp with the NPP while many Andanis are said to support the NDC.

Having waited in vain for the fulfillment of President Mills' promise which was fuelled by ex-President Rawlings' assurance that he has names of the killers of the late Ya Na and that there are video clips of the incident in his possession, some elders of the Andani Gate last week demanded action from the presidency by giving a two-month ultimatum or the government would face a series of demonstrations.  

Observers wonder whether by this action, the work of the Committee of Eminent Persons managing this intractable chieftaincy ado has come to an end.