By Daniel Bampoe&Rocklyn Antonio, AkyemAkokoo
Hell broke loose yesterday at Akyem Akooko, a farming community near Apedwa in the East Akim Municipality of the Eastern Region, where three people were gunned down in a bloody demonstration against a fetish priest in the town believed to be engaged in juju money, popularly called sakawa. The victims, who were said to have been killed by bullets fired by the police, are a 15-year-old JHS leaver named Tawiah and Lydia Ayisi, who died on her way to the hospital after a bullet hit her breast, as well as an unidentified man who also died on the way to the hospital. Violence erupted after policemen deployed to quell the demonstration in the town allegedly clashed with the youth Tuesday afternoon.
Eight others, including three police officers, sustained various degrees of injury and were rushed to the Kyebi and Suhum Government Hospitals for treatment. The chief and the queen mother reportedly led the demonstrators, numbering about 1,000, to set ablaze the house of the fetish priest, Nana Saka, accusing him of parading his gods around the village in a celebration without permission. Three vehicles parked in the house were also torched, with police personnel from the Kyebi Divisional Command, led by Supt M. Yahaya, managing to rescue Nana Saka. Personnel from the Ghana Fire Service stationed at Kyebi had to be called in to put out the fire. DAILY GUIDE gathered that the residents yesterday morning embarked on the demonstration to register their displeasure against the presence of the fetish priest in the area whom they claimed had been engaging in Sakawa rituals for some people using human parts.
Nana Saka, according to a relative of one of the injured persons, was attacked on the suspicion that he had been kidnapping and murdering residents of the area. Some residents claimed that his victims range from school children to adults and maintained that even one of his three wives, whom he beat to death for reprimanding him over a boy he was taking to the slaughter house, was linked to the alleged juju rituals. The said wife was then heavily pregnant before the incident so she died with the baby. The fetish priest was said to have been chased from a village near Asamankese years back over a similar allegation before settling at Akooko.
Demo
The demonstrators, dressed in red and black attires with red armbands, took the protest to the shrine of the fetish priest and allegedly burnt down the place. DAILY GUIDE’s investigations indicated that Nana Saka last week marked an anniversary and during the activities he and his followers carried their gods and paraded through the community, incurring the wrath of BarimaBempong AgyedoaPantantina, chief of the town, who summoned him to appear before the chiefs and elders for causing an abomination. The paper learnt that the chief fined Nana Saka to offer one cow, two cartons of foreign Schnapps and an amount of GH¢20,000 (¢200 million), and that after he had presented all those things, he should vacate the town.
However, Nana Saka, who reportedly promised to pay the fines on Tuesday, refused to appear before the traditional rulers and rather went to the Suhum police station to report the matter. The Suhum Police Commander, Supt YahayaMuchiraru, visited the chief’s palace to hold talks with him and the elders; but the action rather infuriated the people, with the queen mother, Nana AfiaKorantemaa, purportedly ordering the youth to besiege the fetish priest’s house and set the place on fire. The followers of the fetish priest, who spotted the incident, also fired gunshots into the demonstrating crowd, resulting in a free-for-all fight, with the factions allegedly using machetes and other lethal weapons. The angry youth also scattered all the personal belongings of Nana Saka, and the police reportedly started firing tear gas to scare the protesting youth. Meanwhile, heavily armed police and military personnel have been deployed to the town to maintain law and order. Fifteen persons have so far been arrested in connection with the fracas.
Journalists Attacked
Some journalists in the region who also stormed the community to cover the incident were also beaten up by some members of the angry mob. The Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP AkuriyibaYaggy, later visited the scene to assess the situation.
http://www.dailyguideghana.com/3-killed-over-juju-man/
