Ex-DCE painted Ya-Na as being arrogant -Witness tells court

The late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani

The Fast Track Court (FTC) adjudicating over the alleged killers of the Over Lord of Dagbon and his elders, yesterday heard that the former District Chief Executive (DCE) of Yendi, Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani made a derogatory statement against the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, and members of the Andani gate.

According to Yakubu Mahama, alias Puu Mahama, a nephew to the late Chief, the ex-DCE, described the late Ya-Na as an arrogant person, who was killed because of his arrogance.

Yakubu Mahama, who is also a security personnel at the VAT Service at Tamale, was giving his evidence-in-chief, led by Mr. Rexford Anthony Wiredu, Principal State Attorney in the case, in which fifteen persons are facing charges of conspiracy and murder of the Late Ya-Na, before the court, presided over by Justice Ayebi, an Appeal court judge, with additional responsibility as a High court judge.

According to the witness, he was shot at his buttocks, with the pellet coming out of his thigh, and when receiving treatment at the Yendi Hospital, he saw the dead body of the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, and some others brought to the morgue.

Witness told the court that while there, the Ex-DCE of Yendi, Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani appeared at the hospital together with some strangers, telling him that 'the arrogance that you are having is the same arrogance the chief is having, and he would not listen to anybody. That is why he was killed with his elders'.

The accused persons are Iddrisu Iddi, alias Mbadugu,  Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu, alias Zohe, Kwame Alhassan, alias Achiri, Mohammed Abdulai, alias Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah, Iddrisu Iddi and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, the former District Chief Executive (DCE) for Yendi.

The rest are Alhassan Mohammed, alias Mohammed Cheampon, Abukari Nabeli, alias Kunkakums or Kooms, Mohammed Mustapha, Yakubu Yusif, alias Leftee, Abdul Razak Yussif, alias Nyaa and Shani Imoro.

While fourteen of the accused persons are facing charges of conspiracy in murdering the OverLord of Dabon, Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, another accused person, Zakaria Yakubu, who is currently at large, is facing a charge of murdering the Ya-Na.

The fourteen accused persons have pleaded not guilty to conspiring in the murder of the Ya-Na as they face trial before a-seven-member jury.

Narrating his story to the court through an interpreter in the Dagomba dialect, Yakubu Mahama noted that at the time of the Yendi crisis, he was then a security man working for the Church of Christ and assigned to its clinic on the church premises.

According to him, after closing from working and returning to the Gbewaa palace, where he resides, in the morning of March 25, 2002, he met people crowded in the palace and demanded to know what was happening.

'I was told that Mbadugu sent his son to call his next in command, and on his way back he was attacked by the Abudus, who further destroyed his bicycle', the witness stressed, adding that on March 25, 2002, he went to greet the Ya-Na in the palace and told him what he heard outside, which he confirmed.

Witness noted that the Ya-Na asked that the victim should be sent to hospital for treatment, adding that whiles within the house, the Ya-Na's son run towards him with blood stains on his head.

Furthermore, Yakubu Mahama pointed out that he went out of the palace and saw some Abudus wielding guns and walking towards him. 'They shot at me and I shouted 'save me', which attracted people from the palace to come out, as the gun wielding Abudus run away from the scene.

Witness then told the court that he was taken into the palace, where the Ya-Na asked that a complaint should be lodged at the police station before he is taken to the hospital for treatment.

While having treatment for gun shot wounds at the Yendi hospital, the Ex-DCE of Yendi, Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani came there with some strangers as the corpse of the Ya-Na and some others were brought to the hospital.

According to witness, he was admitted at the Yendi Hospital from March 26, 2002 and released on March 29, 2002, and was transported to Tamale Hospital for further treatment.

In cross-examination conducted by Mr. Phillip Addison, counsel for accused persons, Yakubu Mahama emphasized that he had told the Wuaku Commission about what the Ex-DCE had told him, adding that if the Commission did not indicate that then it was not his problem, as they chose to write what they want.

He denied that the Andanis attacked the Abudus on March 25, 2002, and further refuted firing a gun at the Abudus.

He also told the court that the three Abudus, who he saw armed, were not among the accused persons present, stressing that it was Ayomah, who shot at him, since he saw him holding the gun and pointing it at him. Hearing is adjourned to October 2, 2010, for continuation.