Emotions were high at Dankyira, a farming community near Weija in the Greater Accra Region, when aggrieved women including widows marched naked to a shrine to perform some rituals to their gods to prove innocence of their sons and husbands who have been arrested in connection with the killings and disturbances that rocked the area some weeks ago.
They also called on their gods to intervene since they now appeared to be strangers in their own land, as they were being hounded by some marauding gangsters who had taken over the village.
The area recently witnessed a chieftaincy dispute, leading to the killing of four persons including a chief and “Wulomo” of the Dankyira Traditional Area.
The deceased were said to have been shot whilst others were butchered with machetes by a gang allegedly loyal to Nii Akramam, a chief laying claim to the stool of Dankyira.
The three persons who died on the spot were Aboye Tetteh, 30; Nii Juabeng Armah, 50, Wulomo of Dankyira; and Abu Mohammed Armah, 45, with Nii Sarbah Mustapha dying later while on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
But the women said the police arrested innocent people and they could not understand why the perpetrators were let off the hook.
The women, who were all dressed in red and partially naked with their bare and dangling breasts in public view, held in their hands bottles of schnapps and other alcoholic beverages and started the march in the early hours of Saturday morning amidst chants of war songs and appellations to their gods.
Amidst wailing, the aggrieved women evoked the spirits of their fore fathers to strike down all those behind the killings and so prove the innocence of their men who had been arrested.
Madam Sarah Ayetso Aryee, leader of the women who spoke to Daily Guide after the rituals, indicated that all their men had fled the town and left behind women and children who now fended for themselves and lived in fear.
“Some of the men are also afraid to come to the town for fear that they would be arrested by the police since the police believe every potential man in the town is a suspect in the killings that took place in the area recently”.
She said the situation had virtually made Dankyira a ‘ghost town’ since all the men, including the young ones, had been compelled to flee the village for fear of being arbitrarily arrested.
The prayer leader maintained that they could no longer go to their farms since their tormentors had laid siege in the bushes and were ready to wreck havoc.
Madam Sarah Ayetso Aryee contended that even though the police were guarding the area 24 hours a day, land-guards were hiding in the bush and making them feel insecure.
Adding her voice, Madam Comfort Odartey Lamptey accused one Nii Noi Morton, aka “Blow”, of engaging the land-guards, numbering over 100, to terrorize them on that fateful day.
She claimed that perpetrators and Blow were walking free as no action had been taken against them, while their husbands and innocent children had rather been arrested.
Madam Odartey Lamptey averred that Blow claimed he had bought part of the land from one Antiye Addy, who was popularly called Kwame Amu of the Djan Bi Amu family, but he was not their king.
“Over the years, we have known only one person to be the chief and that person is Nii Akrama Ayekai II.” She said, “We are not interested in the stool but we only want peace to prevail in our land as we had enjoyed over the years. We want our sons and husbands back.”
She revealed that barely a week ago, the land-guards resurfaced in the town to tie white cloths on all trees by the roadside, signifying that they were back.
They also urged government not to withdraw the police from the area for fear that the land-guards could attack them once again.
Source: Daily Guide/Ghana via news.myjoyonline.com
They also called on their gods to intervene since they now appeared to be strangers in their own land, as they were being hounded by some marauding gangsters who had taken over the village.
The area recently witnessed a chieftaincy dispute, leading to the killing of four persons including a chief and “Wulomo” of the Dankyira Traditional Area.
The deceased were said to have been shot whilst others were butchered with machetes by a gang allegedly loyal to Nii Akramam, a chief laying claim to the stool of Dankyira.
The three persons who died on the spot were Aboye Tetteh, 30; Nii Juabeng Armah, 50, Wulomo of Dankyira; and Abu Mohammed Armah, 45, with Nii Sarbah Mustapha dying later while on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
But the women said the police arrested innocent people and they could not understand why the perpetrators were let off the hook.
The women, who were all dressed in red and partially naked with their bare and dangling breasts in public view, held in their hands bottles of schnapps and other alcoholic beverages and started the march in the early hours of Saturday morning amidst chants of war songs and appellations to their gods.
Amidst wailing, the aggrieved women evoked the spirits of their fore fathers to strike down all those behind the killings and so prove the innocence of their men who had been arrested.
Madam Sarah Ayetso Aryee, leader of the women who spoke to Daily Guide after the rituals, indicated that all their men had fled the town and left behind women and children who now fended for themselves and lived in fear.
“Some of the men are also afraid to come to the town for fear that they would be arrested by the police since the police believe every potential man in the town is a suspect in the killings that took place in the area recently”.
She said the situation had virtually made Dankyira a ‘ghost town’ since all the men, including the young ones, had been compelled to flee the village for fear of being arbitrarily arrested.
The prayer leader maintained that they could no longer go to their farms since their tormentors had laid siege in the bushes and were ready to wreck havoc.
Madam Sarah Ayetso Aryee contended that even though the police were guarding the area 24 hours a day, land-guards were hiding in the bush and making them feel insecure.
Adding her voice, Madam Comfort Odartey Lamptey accused one Nii Noi Morton, aka “Blow”, of engaging the land-guards, numbering over 100, to terrorize them on that fateful day.
She claimed that perpetrators and Blow were walking free as no action had been taken against them, while their husbands and innocent children had rather been arrested.
Madam Odartey Lamptey averred that Blow claimed he had bought part of the land from one Antiye Addy, who was popularly called Kwame Amu of the Djan Bi Amu family, but he was not their king.
“Over the years, we have known only one person to be the chief and that person is Nii Akrama Ayekai II.” She said, “We are not interested in the stool but we only want peace to prevail in our land as we had enjoyed over the years. We want our sons and husbands back.”
She revealed that barely a week ago, the land-guards resurfaced in the town to tie white cloths on all trees by the roadside, signifying that they were back.
They also urged government not to withdraw the police from the area for fear that the land-guards could attack them once again.
Source: Daily Guide/Ghana via news.myjoyonline.com
