A burnt car at the chief’s palace. Insert: Ato Kwamena, one of the injured on his hospital bed
There was pandemonium at Oblogo near Weija in Accra, leading to the death of the chief of the area, Nii Kwaku Bibini II.
Nii Kwaku Bibini, Oblogo Mantse, was killed in a bloody attack by a rival group near his residence at Oblogo.
Three persons, Evans Ashitey, Ato Kwamena, and Mac Joe who sustained various degrees of injury have been hospitalized at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital while the remains of the chief have deposited at the Police Hospital’s morgue for autopsy.
A motor rider suspected to be a supporter of the deceased chief was also attacked and his motor set ablaze.
Even though police suspected he might be dead, they could not confirm the death, as the body of the said rider had since not been found.
While the police said they suspected the 47-year-old chief was clubbed or battered to death, an eyewitness held a different view, explaining that the man was shot at close range on the left side of his armpit before being clubbed.
The eyewitness said Nii Bibini was hit with a bullet, before his attackers used a club to hit the back of his neck and slashed him on the head, killing him instantly.
The police have since arrested seven persons over the incident. They are Moro Mohammed, 28, Ali Ibrahim, 18, Abdul Rauf, 44, Zakaria Mohammed, 24, Abdul Alhassan, 22, Alex Borzoga, 25, and Awudu Abass, 22.
A high-powered delegation, including the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo, Director-General of Police Operations, COP John Kudalor, the Deputy Regional Police Commander, DCOP C.T. Yohuno, and others visited the crime scene.
The killing of the chief is the result of a long-standing dispute between the Asene people of Gbawe and the Engleshie Alata of James-Town who insist Oblogo is under their jurisdiction.
The Weija Police Commander, ASP Kwame Gyase Afari, who briefed the delegation, explained that on February 18, 2011, one Amidu Salifu was shot and killed in Nii Bibini’s palace.
This followed an arson case as Nii’s palace was under siege by some of the town’s youth who set the palace and all his belongings on fire.
The prime suspect, Alex Cudjoe, was arrested while Nii Bibini was also picked up on February 20, 2011.
He was arraigned and remanded until somewhere in January 2012 when he was granted bail, after he had been banned from entering Oblogo.
The deceased chief however appealed against the ban after sometime and won.
Nii Bibini, hours before his untimely death, was seen on Easter Sunday April 8, 2012 trying to clear the debris in his burnt house with the intention to resettle.
The Weija Commander said the chief had rejected the counsel of his crime officer who warned him two hours prior to his attack and subsequent murder to leave the place.
“He met the crime officer at about 2pm and he was killed around 4pm,” ASP Afari told the delegation.
Sources said Nii Bibini was however attacked a few minutes after the police had left, by some thugs suspected to belong to the Gbawe faction.
According to an eyewitness, she heard several gunshots emanating from the scene of the crime.
The countless gunshots so much scared them that they had to lock up their doors and stay indoors until the place was calm.
She narrated that she came and saw a man lying in a pool of blood on the manhole, and upon a careful look, she identified him as Nii Bibini.
She then called the police who came and took the body away.
Nii Afotey Agbo used the opportunity to warn the assassins and assured the bereaved family that the killers would be found and brought to book.
COP Kudalor assured the public that his outfit would ensure that the killers were arrested to ensure justice prevailed.
He noted that “the police cannot countenance this nonsense”, adding the perpetrators would surely be found to face the law.
Mr. Afotey Agbo expressed the hope that within three weeks, the police would be able to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the chief.
Nii Kwaku Bibini left behind two wives and a number of children.
Information gathered by DAILY GUIDE indicated that Nii Kweku Obibini returned to the area on April 8, 2012 in the morning.
Around 4pm that fateful day, while inside his house, a group of young men numbering about 15 stormed the house and chased him out.
About 200 meters way from his house, the gang believed to have been hired from New Fadama shot him and absconded.
Meanwhile, suspect Awudu Abass, one of the seven people arrested, attempted to escape with wounds in his head in a taxi cab around 7pm that fateful day, but was arrested by a team of policemen at a snap checkpoint.
BY Rocklyn Antonio& Linda Tenyah
