One of the burnt houses at Lukula
A 70-year-old chief of the Kuwerigu Community near Lukula in the North Gonja District of the Savannah Region has been reportedly killed in a renewed communal violence over disputed land.
Naa Salifu Nachinaa was said to have been shot dead at his house by gunmen, who invaded the community.
According to unconfirmed accounts, six other individuals were killed and several others were injured during the clash between members of the Gonja and Mamprusi tribes in Lukula, North Gonja District.
Among the injured are three police officers who were dispatched to the Lukula community to restore law and order.
The violence erupted yesterday dawn following two days of tension in the community, and eyewitnesses claimed several houses, mostly belonging to members of the Mamprusi tribe, were destroyed.
More than 100 individuals, mostly women and children, have fled the community to the North East Region since the clash, which is claimed to be between traditional warriors from Daboya’s Wasipe Traditional Area and Janga’s Soo Traditional Area.
Fighting between the two tribes began in 2019 shortly after the formation of the Savannah and North East Regions, with each claiming ownership of Lukula and its nearby communities.
The Tampulmas and Mamprusis of North Gonja District had previously indicated a desire to join the North East Region, accusing Gonja authorities of economic and social neglect.
Meanwhile, Saeed Muhazu Jibril, the Savannah Regional Minister, has asked for calm between the two tribes.
He stated that the Savannah and North East Regional Coordinating Councils will work together to resolve the land issue with the King of the Mamprugu Traditional Council and the King of the Gonja Traditional Council.
“The King of Mamprugu Traditional Council and the King of Gonja Traditional Council should engage each other and determine who owes this disputed land so that we can all live in peace,” he said.
Fulanis Flee Bawku
In another development, Ebo Bruce-Quansah reports from Zebilla that hundreds of nomadic herdsmen from the Kopella and Zeogo communities in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region have fled to avoid the wrath of some furious natives from the two settlements.
As of Wednesday night, almost every dwelling and non-movable property belonging to these herders and their families had been burned down.
Many of their livestock have also migrated to safer locations where they are no longer under anyone’s control or care.
Following the attacks on the herders, some indigenes who had cattle with these ranchers in the two communities are counting their losses.
According to a DAILY GUIDE source in Zebilla, the burning of the herdsmen’s homes, particularly those of the Fulanis, was a reaction by enraged natives to an attack on a 23-year-old pregnant woman from Zeogo by a man at dawn, when she went into a forest to harvest shea nuts.
Reports said the man approached the woman in the bush and demanded sex; when she refused, he drew out a cutlass and cut her many times to force her to surrender before raping her.
Even though the victim did not know the rapist, her description of him and the fact that he was in the bush before dawn led several people to believe that the act was committed by a Fulani herdsman, prompting them to attack every Fulani.
Aside from the Fulani homes that were burned in the Kopella and Zeogo areas, Fulanis in Binaba, which is far from the incident, were also attacked by some furious youth in the Binaba market.
Police officers sent to the Binaba market to stop the youth from attacking the Fulanis were vehemently resisted and later attacked by some furious youth.
Meanwhile, the woman was said to be responding to treatment at Zebilla District Hospital, but no word on the status of her pregnancy.
Ebenezer Ndebilla Alumire, the newly elected National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for the Zebilla Constituency, has since sent a delegation to see the woman and offered a monetary donation to help clear her bills.
FROM Eric Kombat, Lukula