Bimbilla chief killed
The Paramount Chief of the Nanumba Traditional Area, Naa Dasana Andani, has been killed. The chief was allegedly attacked and murdered alongside three other family members at his palace in Bimbilla on Thursday evening by some unknown assailants.
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About five persons, including a baby who sustained various injuries in the attack, are responding to treatment at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, where the remains of Naa Andani and the three others have been deposited for autopsy.
Police
According to the Northern Regional Police Crime Officer, Superintendant Peter Abilla, Bimbilla was now calm following the deployment of additional police and military personnel who are patrolling the area to ensure law and order.
Ten people have been arrested so far.
REGSEC
Meanwhile, the Northern Regional Security Committee, led by its Chairman, Alhaji Lamuna Muniru, yesterday visited the Bimbilla North District to assess the situation.
The team also met with members of the District Security Committee (DISEC), who briefed the team on Thursday’s incident that led to the murder of the chief and the others.
The REGSEC also called on the chiefs and elders in the area to commiserate with them.
Alhaji Muniru entreated the people to stay calm and cooperate with the security personnel as efforts were being made to apprehend the perpetrators of the crime.
Curfew
The existing curfew in the area has now been extended from the previous 9 p.m.— 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. — 6 p.m.
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Situation
Bimbilla and the surrounding communities are currently calm and residents remain indoors for fear of reprisal attacks. All social and economic activities have also come to a halt and some schools have temporarily closed down.
According to some of the residents who spoke to the Daily Graphic, the disturbances nearly marred the just-ended BECE.
While some of the candidates who travelled long distances to the examination centre in Bimbilla were apprehensive of coming to Bimbilla to write their last paper, others said they could not put their thoughts together to write the examination because of the tension in the area.
The Northern Regional Minister later visited the Bimbilla Police Station where most of the students who had completed their examination had gathered, to mobilise vehicles to transport them safely to their destinations.
Family
At a press conference organised by the family of the Bimbilla Naa in Tamale yesterday, a spokesperson, Dasana Salifu, alleged that the chief was attacked at about 6:30pm when he was praying inside the palace and other worshippers were in the mosque.
He claimed that the assailants who were dressed in military and police uniforms allegedly attacked the chief and the other victims amidst sporadic shooting. The attackers, one of whom was said to have been identified by some occupants of the palace, later bolted.
“We went into the compound of Chief Dasana Andani’s palace only to see him lying down motionless on his mat in a pool of blood,” Mr Salifu indicated.
The family described the assertion by the Bimbilla District Chief Executive, Alhaji Mohammed Ibn Abass, that the chief was killed as a result of a clash between the two factions in the Nanung chieftaincy crisis as “factually inaccurate, baseless, malicious and window-dressing just to save his job.”
The spokesperson further claimed that the DISEC was aware of the warning signals but failed to act and, therefore, called for the immediate removal of the chief executive and the security heads in the area for their failure to protect the overlord.
They also demanded that the chief’s body be released to them for burial in Bimbilla and claimed that they were not consulted before it was deposited at the Tamale Teaching Hospital morgue.
Background
The Nanumba Traditional Council has two main Gates; Bang-yili and Gbugma-yili whose representatives rotate their occupancy of the throne.
The protracted chieftaincy dispute in the area became more pronounced in 2003, after the demise of the former Paramount Chief for Nanung, Na Abarika, who belonged to the Bang-yili gate.
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A conflict ensued as to who was qualified from the Gbugma-yili gate to succeed him. While the late Naa Salifu Dawuni indicated that he was the rightful successor, Naa Andani also claimed he was the one chosen to occupy the throne. This compelled the Judicial Committee of the Northern Regional House of Chiefs to investigate the matter.
The three-member committee chaired by Yunyoo Rana Yamyia Tooka II, in March 2012, unanimously declared Na Andani Dasana as the substantive Paramount Chief for the Bimbilla Traditional Area.
The verdict, however, did not go down well with the late Naa Dawuni and his faction, leading to their appeal at the National House of Chiefs which is yet to come out with its verdict. There have been a couple of fatal clashes between the two factions since the death of Naa Dawuni in March this year.
While the deceased’s family insisted that his body be interred at the royal mausoleum as a paramount chief, Naa Dasana opposed the request, stressing that he never occupied the skin.
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The remains of Naa Dawuni are, therefore, yet to be buried.