A number of people are said to have been shot dead and houses burnt in a renewed chieftaincy violence that is ongoing at Portor, a small community near Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo Region.

A self-imposed curfew is currently in force as some residents have locked themselves up in their rooms for fear of being shot while others have fled the community, which is about an hour drive from Kintampo on the kintampo-Tamale road.

The clash, which has been confirmed by the Kintampo Divisional Police, was said to have started at about 3:30pm Friday but it is not clear what reignited the dispute which is said to have been lingering for years. “Today around 3.30pm we saw that most of the people in the community were running away so we asked and some students told us that they [the factions] were coming to fight,” a teacher in the community told 3News Friday night.

“They have burnt houses. Some people have been killed. You cannot come out to know the number of people who are dead. As I’m talking to you now [6:30pm] houses are being burnt, they are still shooting,” the teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity said. Personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service are currently on the ground trying to extinguish the fire on the houses.

According to the eyewitness, he and other teachers as well as some police personnel who have been stationed in the community to respond to such emergencies have all been locked up in their rooms.

The eyewitness told 3News exactly a year ago on March 4, 2016 when there was a similar chieftaincy violence which was brought under control by a team of military and police personnel. The military personnel were said to have stationed in the community for six months before leaving.

Confirming Friday’s clash to TV3’s Larry Paa Kwesi Moses, the Kintampo Divisional Police Commander, Chief Supt. Owusu Boampong, some police officers and military personnel from the third infantry battalion have been deployed to the community. He could however not confirm whether Friday’s shooting incident has caused lives.