Regional Minister's Fiat To Police: Arrest Oblogo Chief Killers In 3weeks

A three-week ultimatum has been given to the Ghana Police Service to smoke out the killers of Nii Kwame Bibinii II, a disputed chief of Ogblogo near Weija in the Greater Accra Region. The deceased was shot in the chest and also suffered machete wounds in his head following what is suspected to be fallout of a chieftaincy dispute. Three other victims who suffered cutlass wounds are receiving medical attention at the Accident Centre of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. More than 48 hours after the incident, the palace is still said to be stained with blood. The Greater Accra Regional Minister and MP for Kpone-Katamanso, Hon Joseph Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo gave the diktat on Monday when he paid a visit to the Oblogo palace. Though it is unclear what provoked the latest unrest, reports say the late chief, was allegedly killed by a mob on Sunday afternoon, when he returned from 'exile' after a similar chieftaincy dispute kept him out of the village for months. Oblogo Lamptey and the Nii Kwaku Bibini families have been slugging it out over who is the rightful claimant to the Oblogo stool for 15 years. In 2005, the two factions reconciled their differences at a well-attended ceremony where cows and fowls were slaughtered to signify the peace that had been achieved. But suddenly, it appears the two clans are not ready for peace. Accompanied by the Director of Police Operations, COP John Kudalor, the Regional Minister urged the police to quickly get to the bottom of the incident and bring to book all the perpetrators stressing that the Oblogo youth cannot act as though the country is in in a lawless state. �Nobody is above the law, and the police are there to protect everybody, and so we would make sure that all involved in this criminal act would be arrested for the law to take its own course�, he stated. DSP Kwame Gyasi-Asare, Weija District Commander, said the incident occurred around 4pm on Sunday, when the chief had come to his palace after receiving a permit from the court which stated that he could visit the palace. He said when the police heard he had come to the palace they quickly rushed there, but he told them the court had permitted him to come to the palace, since he has been spending too much money at hotels, ever since he was granted bail after his arrest somewhere in February last year. DSP Gyasi-Asare said two hours after the team left his residence they heard he had been found dead with cuts on his head and hands in front of a house near the palace, with three other persons seriously injured. He said the three were currently receiving treatment at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, but added that one supporter of the chief was still missing. According to an eye witness, they heard gun shots in the area and so decided to lock their door and hide in their room in order not to be hurt then all of a sudden they heard voices in front of a house where a man was being beaten by some group of people. She said within some minutes they heard people shouting for the help but thirty minutes later the police arrived only to find the chief dead in a pool of blood. The body of the late chief has since been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue awaiting autopsy, whiles the police say six people have so far been arrested in relation to the incident.