Volta Chiefs caution Nkonya, Alavanyo over criminals

The Volta Regional House of Chiefs has called on the chiefs and people of Nkonya and Alavanyo to expose the criminals behind the reprisal attacks and murder of their kinsmen.

The Vice President of the House, Nana Soglo Alloh IV, who represented the President Togbe Afede XIV, expressed worry about the lackadaisical attitude of residents in assisting the security agencies to identify and arrest criminal elements, who are behind the attacks.

He made the call at the second meeting of the house in Ho, the Volta Regional capital.

He said that “it’s very difficult to find out who are the culprits; both parties tend to hide the culprits within the communities. That’s the difficulty that our security agencies are facing.”

Nana Alloh, who is also the Paramount chief of the Likpe Traditional area, added that “if it’s on the side of Alavanyo, the Alavanyos will protect, if it’s on the side of Nkonya, the Nkonyas will protect. That’s the reason why the criminals are getting away with it, because they will always be protected by the community.”

His comments, which were backed by members of the House, come in the wake of last week’s attacks by the two feuding parties, which led to the shooting of four victims on both sides.

Adontenhene of Nkonya-Ahenkro died while the surviving three, all females, sustained various degrees of injuries.

The recent attacks, which occurred last Wednesday evening, happened hours after the Volta Regional Minister, Helen Adwoa Ntoso had advised the two parties to maintain peace.

Two women in their late sixties were shot at Alavanyo-Dzogbedze while returning from their farms recently.

According to a source in the area, the assailants however absconded upon the arrival of soldiers.

Residents claim the move was in retaliation for the killing of the Adontenhene of Nkonya-Ahenkro on his farm on Monday and the shooting of a 31-year-old woman at Nkonya-Kadjebi on Tuesday evening.

Though the police stated that the incidents are not connected to the over nine-decade old land conflict between the two traditional areas, members of the Regional House of Chiefs believe the attacks are unbecoming.

Nana Soglo Alloh IV, who condemned the violence, urged the feuding factions to return to the mediation table.

He explained that “mediation committees have been set up to resolve this issue, it looks like these two parties, for whatever reasons, nobody is sure who is fuelling the attacks. They refuse to accept all these representations, which is very unfortunate.

“At the moment, the chiefs are powerless, the only thing we can do is mediation and continuous mediation, hoping that they will come back to their senses.”