Western Regional House of chiefs condemn kidnap of Dixcove chief

The Western Regional House of Chiefs has condemned what they describe as “the abysmal violence” in the abduction of the Paramount Chief of Lower Dixcove, Nana Kwesi Agyeman IX on Sunday, 21 July 2019.

The Chiefs in a statement said they are “intensely outraged by the utter violation of traditional values, persons, property, and space” in Dixcove.

Nana Kwesi Agyeman IX is said to have been abducted by aides of the rival Upper Dixcove chief in relation to a dispute over boundaries.

The captors are said to have forcibly entered Nana Agyeman's palace by breaking the main gate and holding him hostage.

The abductors were also said to have damaged some items at the palace and disrupted electricity supply to the community by destroying the transformer.

This is said to have resulted in a total blackout in the area, enabling them to transport the chief to the palace of the Upper Dixcove chief.

Reacting to this event in a statement, the Regional House of Chiefs in its statement signed by Awulae Amihere Kpanyinli III, acting President and Omanhene of Eastern Nzema Traditional Area said “this crass barbarity and wanton destruction of property does not only tarnish the image of the hallowed institution bequeathed to us through the ages but contributes to the idea of social lawlessness, conflict, disorder, and insecurity abhorred by this sacred institution.”

The chiefs said the violence between upper and lower Dixcove contradicts all the doctrines and expectations of the role of the chieftaincy institution.

“Unchecked, this willful and very disturbing defilement of the person of an Omanhen displays a complete disregard for the norms, conventions and taboos that sew the cultural fabric of social nudity and is possibly a pointer to the direction we may be heading as a society. Inherently we all become victims of social disarrangement and trauma.”

The statement said no one should be above the law and no persons have a right to take the law into their hands, thus, it is astonishing that the customary procedures and modes of redress have been sidestepped.

“Nothing merits violence especially at this period of heightened insecurity with regard to the Sekondi -Takoradi Kidnapping,” the statement said.

The chiefs have, therefore, appealed to the citizens of Dixcove to be calm and not to engage in activities that will worsen the tension and lead to an escalation of violence.

“We appeal to the Western Police command to work assiduously to seek out the culprits who planned and executed such dastardly act. Further, a delicate feud has been ongoing between Lower Dixcove and Upper Dixcove and we also appeal to the government to assist the Western Regional House of Chiefs to set up a committee to find and resolve the root cause of the Dixcove tension and violence,” the statement noted.