The Tamale Magistrate Court presided by his Worship Amadu Issifu, has granted bail to Twenty-one accused persons arrested over the land dispute between Gonjas and Mamprusis at Lukula in the North Gonja district of the Savannah region.
The accused persons were granted GH¢ 6,000 bail each with one surety.
They have been charged on four counts, conspiracy to commit crime, to wit, rioting with weapons, rioting with weapon, conspiracy to commit crime to wit causing unlawful damage and causing unlawful damage.
They are expected to reappear in court on June 23, 2023.
On June 2, 2023, police in the Savannah region arrested 118 persons who allegedly attacked the Daboya police station and destroyed properties belonging to the police for arresting some persons believed to be linked to the clash between the Gonjas and the Mamprusis.
The suspects were transported to the Tamale Police Command were they were screened and 97 of the suspects released.
The remaining 21 were arraigned before the Tamale Magistrate court.
A 70-year-old chief of the Kuwerigu Community near Lukula in the North Gonja District of the Savannah Region was 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 June 1, 2023 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.
FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale