Nii Ayitey Anumle Oyanki II and Nii Laryea
The Accra Regional Police Command is currently holding the Chief of Opah – a community near Sapeiman in the Ga West Municipality – for attempted murder.
Nii Ayitey Anumle Oyanki II, 36, was arrested last Friday evening for allegedly shooting a man, and stabbing and holding the man’s brother hostage for hours on suspicion that they were spies of a rivalry chief.
According to the police, 15 others believed to be Nii Ayitey’s land guards are being tracked to assist in investigations.
The chief has been remanded in police custody by an Accra Circuit Court for in investigations to continue.
Capture
The suspect was at loggerheads with a rivalry chief identified as Nii Abbey Okanfra, aka Staff, a development chief at Sapeiman.
Police sources say the two chiefs have been using land guards for their activities and on August 16, the suspect’s land guards saw one Nii Laryea, 23, and raised the alarm that he had come to spy on them. Therefore, the suspect gave his land guards the order to ‘arrest’ and detain Nii Laryea.
“They arrested the boy on a street in front of the palace, gave him severe beatings after which they used broken beer bottles to stab him on the head and buttocks,” the police source said.
Not satisfied, the land guards dragged Laryea inside the palace to further ‘torture’ him, holding him hostage for close to three hours.
When Daniel Nii Aryee, 40, brother of the victim, heard about the incident, he together with some opinion leaders rushed to the palace to plead with the suspect to release the victim but the land guards prevented them entry. Later, they managed to force themselves inside.
The police said the suspect then fired his gun, hitting Daniel Nii Aryee in the waist whilst the others ran for their lives. Subsequently, they reported the matter to the police.
The Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Fred Adu Anim, confirmed the incident and said they arrested the suspect and freed the victim.
He confirmed that there were sporadic shootings in the area and the police recovered seven cartridges at the palace.
The pump action gun was also retrieved from the suspect.
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey