<<Print>>

In what could be described as the re-enactment of the famous Yaa Asantewaa bravery in 1900, a 58-year-old woman at Ayigya in Kumasi was the toast of the people when she daringly snatched a single-barreled gun from a man who threatened to shoot at her. The man, whose identity is yet to be known, was raiding the house of the woman in the heat of bloody clashes between deadly weapon-wielding thugs belonging to two separate factions in the protracted Ayigya chieftaincy dispute. Madam Yaa Nyarko, who sustained bruises in the face in her attempt to dispossess the man wielding the gun, told a section of the media that she was in her home around 8.00pm on Tuesday when the lone gunman stormed the house, ostensibly to shoot and kill her. According to her, she saw the man from afar so she hid behind the door to the main entrance of the house and as he entered the house, she hit him in the head form behind with a stick, in an attempt to disarm him. According to her, the man, believed to be a member of one of the warring factions in the long-standing Ayigya stool dispute, took to his heels and has since not been found. Sources told Daily Guide that the gun has since been in the possession of the police who have launched a full-scale investigation into the incident. The hitherto peaceful Ayigya community, a suburb of Kumasi, was thrown into a state of fright on Tuesday evening when two blood-drunk factions claiming ownership of the town�s stool broke the law in a bloody clash. Residents of the area, especially the vulnerable, women and children, had to run helter-skelter to save their lives as thugs belong to both sides freely traded punches in the heart of the town amid gunshot firing. People who got maimed during the free-for-all skirmishes were identified as Kofi Nti, Isaac Effah and Isaac Dwamena who sustained severe cutlass wounds in the hand. According to sources, Nana Akosua Ohene Aferewo, who is Otumfuo�s traditional wife and ruler of the town, planned digging a well to provide potable drinking water for residents which the other faction allegedly resisted. Gyasehene Kyei Afram, who is also claiming to be the ruler of the town, said the well was being dug at his shrine, hence his decision to prevent Nana Ohene Aferewo from carrying out the project. Nana Gyasehene Afram was said to have instructed a gong-gong beater to announce to the townsfolk that Nana Ohene Aferewo was no more married to Otumfuo so she could not claim to be the ruler of the town anymore on Tuesday evening at about 8pm. The messenger thus implored the populace to henceforth channel all their grievances and concerns in the town to Gyasehene Afram who was now in charge of the town. Reports indicated that in the course of making the announcement, Asakyiri Abusuapanin Fredua Mensah, who belongs to Nana Ohene Aferewo�s camp, appeared at the scene to warn the announcer to stop. This immediately provoked the scuffles between the two faction but no one died in the process.