RIVAL OBLOGO CHIEF KILLED * In a protracted chieftaincy dispute.

Front Page: Daily Graphic, April 10, 2012. Story: Albert K. Salia A PURPORTED triumphant entry of a claimant to the stool at Oblogo, near Weija, turned fatal when he was killed by unknown assailants about 5 p.m. on Easter Sunday. Nii Kwaku Bibini II, who is said to have hung a piece of white calico on the burnt-down palace on Sunday morning when he entered the town, after almost a year’s absence, was overtaken by events when gun-wielding assailants attacked him, his supporters and the workers he had engaged to renovate the palace. Unconfirmed reports suggest that a second person might have died in the attack, as bloodstains and a burnt motorbike were traced to a nearby bush. Three others, identified as Mark Joe, Ato Kwamena, both carpenters engaged by the late Nii Bibini to undertake rehabilitation works at the palace, and Evans Ashiley are currently on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. The police have retrieved a number of BB cartridges and one AK 47 pellet from the crime scene. Six persons have been detained at the Police Headquarters in connection with the attack. They are Moro Mohammed, 28; Ali Ibrahim, 18; Abdul Rauf, 44; Zakaria Mohammed, 24; Abdul Alhassan, 22, and Alex Borzoga, 25. Policemen are currently stationed in the town to maintain law and order. The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Afotey Agbo; the Director-General in charge of Police Operations, Commissioner of Police Mr John Kudalor; the Deputy Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Christian Tetteh Yohunu, and other senior police officers visited Oblogo yesterday to assess the situation. They also visited the injured at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. The Weija District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr K. Gyasi Afari, recalled that early last year a similar clash resulted in the death of a native of the town. He said police investigations had led to the arrest of one of the perpetrators, identified as Alex, who in turn told the police that it was Nii Bibini who had engaged them to fight for him. Based on that, Mr Afari said, Nii Bibini was arraigned before court and given bail on condition not to return to Oblogo until the final determination of the case. According to him, on hearing that Nii Bibini had gone back to Oblogo on Sunday, two policemen were despatched to the palace to arrest him, since his action was in contravention of the bail condition. He said the late chief, however, produced a new court order granting him relief to enter the town. Mr Afari said the chief explained that he had to ask the court to review the bail condition because it was too expensive staying in a hotel. With that explanation, the two policemen left the palace. He said about 5 p.m. the same day, the police had information that there were some clashes at Oblogo and quickly marshalled men to the area to control the situation. He said when the policemen got to the scene, Nii Bibini was already dead and the body had to be taken to the Police Hospital mortuary. Mr Afari said the police traced some bloodstains to a burnt motorbike in the bush but could not find the rider, although some eyewitnesses claimed they had seen someone escape on a motorbike into the bush. The Homicide Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service has taken over investigations into the incident.