Security Breakdown Causes Chief’s Death


Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna ( 3rd left) seated with some security chiefs

Chairman of the Northern Regional Security Committee (REGSEC) who doubles as Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna, has admitted that a collapse in the security arrangements may have resulted in the death of the overlord of the Bimbilla Traditional Area, Naa Dasana Abdulai Andani II.  

Armed police details on guard duty were reported to have vacated their duty posts earlier than the expected time when the military personnel who were supposed to relieve them had not reported.

This resulted in the creation of a vacuum which the assailants capitalised on to murder the chief and his subjects.

It is suspected that the assailants were closely monitoring the police on guard, and on realising that there was a loophole they struck and murdered the chief and his subjects gruesomely.

The admission of the minister seemed to have vindicated the family of the murdered chief who accused the security agencies of failing to live up to their duties and thereby paving way for the paramount chief and five of his subjects to be attacked.

Alhaji Limuna disclosed at a press briefing in Tamale that the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Nanumba North District, Alhaji Mohammed Ibn Abbass, and the District Police Commander are currently in Accra assisting the National Security Secretariat in unravelling the perpetrators behind the crime.

17 Arrested
He disclosed that 17 other persons – some from Nkwanta in the Volta Region – arrested in connection with the murder, were currently in various detention centres in Accra pending their prosecution.

The minister however recommended the imposition of a dawn to dusk curfew in Bimbilla and its environs but urged journalists in the region to be circumspect in their reportage on the matter.

He also appealed to residents with vital information that could to lead to the arrest of those behind the crime to contact the security agencies, assuring them of protection.

Ministerial Visit
Meanwhile, a high-powered security delegation led by the Defence Minister, Mark Owen Wayongo, Deputy Minister of the Interior, James Agalga in the company of the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Alhassan, as well as Deputy Minority Leader Dominic Nitiwul on Monday  visited Bimbilla to assess the situation.

There seem to be an uneasy calm in Bimbilla and its environs with some residents fleeing the town for fear of reprisal attacks as witnessed in the past, but the Northern Regional Minister has assured that more troops would be sent to the place to forestall further attacks.

The Paramount Chief of the Bimbilla Traditional Area in the Nanumba North District of the Northern Region, Naa Andani Dassana Abdulai II, and three of his subjects were last Thursday gruesomely murdered by some unidentified gunmen at his palace.

Abdul Mumin Alhassan, an aide to the murdered chief, Issah Ziblim a kingmaker and final year student of the Islamic University College as well as two other persons were all killed.

The assailants who perpetrated the heinous crime, according to the bereaved family, were uniformed men numbering about five. Though without name tags and service numbers for easy identification, the assailants managed to gain access to the paramount chief.

Dasana Salifu Wumbei, the family spokesperson disclosed the gun-wielding cops arrived at the house in the company of a certain Issah Buga moments after the police on guard had left the palace.

The palace maidens, according to Wumbei, without hesitation directed them to the chief who had concluded his evening Islamic prayers and was relaxing in his lobby, reciting verses of the Holy Quran.

Moments later, gunshots were heard from where the chief was seated and indiscriminate shooting ensued, resulting in the death of Abdul Mumin Alhassan and Issah Ziblim both aides of the murdered chief.

The gun-wielding assailants fled the palace immediately as a different group raided the palace of the Kpatihi, a sub-chief, shooting and injuring two other persons who are currently receiving treatment at the Bimbilla Government Hospital.

The latest skirmishes in the area are linked to the long standing feud between two royal gates over the rightful heir to the Bimbilla skin.

This has been raging on for over two decades now following a split between the royal gates who severally dragged each other to court.

From Stephen Zoure, Tamale

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