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There were sporadic gunshots at the forecourt of the Fijai Palace near Sekondi when members of the Abantua stool family at Effia, near Takoradi, allegedly besieged the palace in their attempt to forcibly install a new chief at Fijai yesterday. An eyewitness recounted that members of the family, mostly the youth, wielding cutlasses, guns and clubs inundated the palace at about 5:00 am on Wednesday, chanting war songs as they planned to take over the palace. Sources said the move by the youth from the Abantua family was fiercely resisted by their counterparts from the Kokodo Abiradze family at Fijai, and in the process shots were fired indiscriminately at the forecourt of the palace.Unconfirmed reports had it that three persons sustained various degrees of injuries as a result of the gunshots and were rushed to the hospital. The police were immediately called to the area to avert any further skirmishes. When Daily Guide got to palace at about 8:15 am, about 10 policemen were seen patrolling the area while fear-gripped members of the community hooted at the attackers as the police drove them away. Speaking in an interview with Daily Guide, Nana Fijaiba II, Queenmother of Fijai and a member of the Kokodo Abiradze family explained that there had been a longstanding chieftaincy dispute in the Fijai area after the demise of the chief, Nana Kobina Angu II, in 2004. She noted that after the death of Nana Angu, members of the Abantua family, who claimed they were the right heirs to the throne, have since been battling it out with members of the Kokodo family at the Western Regional House of Chiefs, the Sekondi Traditional Council and the High Courts to claim ownership of the stool. The Queenmother continued that the Abantua family lost all the cases and was told they did not have any right whatsoever to install a chief at Fijai. �The truth is that after the death of Nana Angu, the Queenmother, who is the kingmaker, should in consultation with the family members nominate someone to be installed as chief, but I don�t even know the one they want to install as chief�, Nana Fijaiba lamented. According to the Queenmother, when she heard of the intentions of the members of the Abantua family, she alerted the police. Both factions were then summoned to the Takoradi Central police station in an attempt to find a solution to the problem. Nana Fijaiba said as she was preparing herself to go to the police station, she was told that members of the Abantua family were heading towards the palace with cutlasses and guns to kill her. �I quickly informed the police, who swiftly came in and managed to forestall peace as the gun-wielding youth ran away�, she added. Efforts to get any of the Abantua family members to react to the story proved futile as none of them was ready to speak to Daily Guide. Meanwhile, ASP Fuseini Musah Awinaba, Takoradi District Police Crime Officer, told Daily Guide that the Kokodo Abiradze family, led by the Queenmother, wrote to his outfit for permission to install a new chief on the 13th and 14th of December this year. He said the Abantua family, led by one Kwesi Musu, also wrote to the police to install a chief on 9th December 2009. To avoid any clash in the area, he invited the two factions to his office and warned that none of the families should install a chief. According to the police officer, although the two factions promised to abide by the directive, they received information that the Abantua family members were attempting to install a chief at Fijai on the day in question. He said he quickly mobilized his men and dispatched them to the scene, only to be told that gunshots had been fired at the palace leading to four persons sustaining various degrees of injuries. The injured were named as Emmanuel Kwandoh, Afia Kaya, Kojo Atta and Kojo Eshun. ASP Awinaba said eight persons have so far been arrested in connection with the gunshots, identifying them as Abusuapanyin Kwesi Musu, Emmanuel Kwandoh, Kojo Atta, Ohene Badu, Ama Manza, Afia Kaya, Kojo Eshun and Emmanuel Yawson. He told Daily Guide that the suspects have been placed in police custody while investigations are ongoing.