Bloody Clash

One person was killed and two others seriously injured over a land dispute between the people of Abiriw and their counterparts from Dawu, both in the Akuapem North district on Wednesday. Tension is therefore building up among people of the two communities following the deadly attack by some people from Dawu on a group of young men from Abiriw, leading to the death of one Atta Zimbo. Atta Zimbo was earlier declared missing but his body was found by a search party yesterday afternoon. The young men were weeding on a disputed land on the orders of the Abiriwhene but a group of young men from Dawu claimed the land was a traditional land for their people and therefore attacked them for trespassing. Zimbo, who died of gunshot wounds, was found by a search party accompanied by the police, while 36-year-old Sammy Yomah and 35-year-old Kwabena Adu, who sustained gunshot wounds in their groin and chest respectively, were rushed to the hospital. When Zimbo was found by the search party, he had gunshot wounds in his stomach and had bled to death as he fled to escape from his attackers. The injured persons are on admission at the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital at Mampong-Akwapem responding to treatment. Sammy Yomah told Daily Guide that a group of 10 young men sought permission from his uncle, Nana Kwame Henaku II, who is the chief of Abiriw, to go there and farm. According to him, even though the land in question was a disputed land, the people of Dawu had always been farming on it so they also found it prudent to ask for permission to go there and farm too. He said a group of young men, led by one Okyeame Adu from Dawu who were armed to the teeth, came and started firing at them. On the other hand, Kwabena Adu told Daily GuideLY GUIDE that a group of seven young men had sought permission from the chief of the town to go to the land to farm and while they were clearing the bush, two people from Dawu came and warned them to leave the land but they explained to them that they had been given authority by the Abiriwhene to farm there. He explained that the two went and organized armed youth from Dawu to come and attack them. He said most of them were lucky to have escaped unhurt while the three were hit by bullets, resulting in the death of one of them. The chief of Abiriw, Nana Kwame Henaku II, confirmed that he authorized the young men to go there and farm because the land belonged to the people of Abiriw. According to him, the people of Dawu were trying to use force to take their land from them and he had taken the matter to court but the case had been taken over by Okeremanhene Osuodumgya Nana Otutu Kono III. He accused the Kyidomhene and acting chief of Dawu, Nana Awuku Bram I, of being behind the attack. Nana Awuku Bram has however denied the allegations and also disputed all the claims by the Abiriwhene, saying that the land in question had been the property of the people Dawu for years. “We the people of Dawu own the land and our people have been farming on the land for all these years until a few years ago that the Abiriwhene decided to use force to take the land from us because they have sold all their lands to people who had come to settle there.” He accused the Abiriwhene of selling all the Abiriw lands to settlers and now because the youth of the town were putting pressure on him for a place to farm, he wanted to forcibly take the land of Dawu for his people. He said the people of Dawu would also not sit idle just, because there was no substantive chief in their town, for some other people to come and take over their lands. Meanwhile, the youth of Abiriw have vowed to take vengeance on the people of Dawu. They mounted a roadblock on the outskirts of the town after the news of the attack on Wednesday to prevent vehicles from travelling to and fro. It took the intervention of the police to douse the tension in the area. Security has been beefed up in the Abiriw Township to prevent possible reprisals that could result in a conflict like the one that happened between the people of Abiriw and the people of Akropong-Akuapem over a similar land dispute some 16 years ago.