Bortianor Chieftaincy Crisis: Three Kidnapped

The protracted dispute over the Bortianor chieftaincy went nasty last week Thursday when about 50 armed police personnel besieged the town, a suburb of Accra, shot one youth and ?kidnapped? three others believed to be supporting one of the factions.

The victim, Armah Sackey, a 37-year-old vegetable farmer and a father of four, has since been on admission at the accident ward of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital waiting for surgeons to remove bullets from his buttocks.

Further investigations revealed that three other ? Cofie (20), Commey (22) and Ofori (25) ? who have been missing since the swoop are yet to be found. Fifteen others, who also sustained various degrees of injuries when they tried to escape the police attack, have been treated in various clinics around Odorkor and discharged.

The police, reportedly deployed from the Dansoman District Police station in Accra, were allegedly in the town that morning to protect a ?rebel? chief, one Hammond, while he performed ?some rituals?. Upon seeing the youth who had gathered at the outskirts of the town, the Police mistook them to be ?against? and started shooting at them.

Reports say the police who succeeded in dispersing the youth, shot down Armah Sackey and ?kidnapped? three others who are yet to be found. Clashes between supporters of the ?rebel? Chief Hammond and Nii Ogbamey Ankonam I, the Chief of Bortianor, are common in the town, but following this particular incident, observers think it is about time that the issue was put firmly on the agenda.

Hammond, for instance, has been accused of using the armed policemen to constantly harass any group of people he perceived to be supporting Nii Ogbamey Ankonam I, who has been the Bortianor Chief for 16 years. The charged youth in an interaction with this reporter called for the immediate release of their missing brothers else they would counter the police action. They are also called on the kingmakers of Bortianor to come out clearly on the town?s chieftaincy.

?The authorities should determine who the right chief of Bortianor is so that we can have our peace and do our business?, the spokesperson, Paa Joe, told newsmen.