One person has been confirmed dead following sporadic shootings few meters from the Gbewaa Palace at Yendi when customary rites were about to commence to enskin the newly selected Overlord of Dagbon, the Yoo Naa of Savelugu, Abubakari Mahama.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Mohammed Yusif Tanko, Public Relations Officer of the Northern Regional Police Command, conformed this in a statement issued in Tamale on Saturday.

The statement said: “On Friday, January 18, 2019 at about 2125hours GMT, within the hours of the curfew, as the rituals were about to commence at the Gbewaa Palace in line with the customs and traditions on the enskinment of the newly selected Ya Na, there were sudden sporadic shootings in the presence of security from unknown gun men from an abandoned house located a few meters away from the main Gbewaa Palace.”

“Security personnel on ground returned fire towards the said direction and pursued the shooters inside the building after police and military had surrounded it.”

It said: “Two men were, however, arrested with an AK 47 assault rifle and one unidentified man, believed to be 35 years, was also found dead in the compound of the said house where the firing came from.”

“The arrested men have since refused to disclose their identities to the Police,” the statement said, adding that the body had been sent to the Yendi Government Hospital Morgue for preservation after he was confirmed dead by Mr Alid Hamza, the Nurse on duty at the Emergency Block of the Hospital.



The statement said at about 0045 hours on Saturday, January 19, the performance of the rituals continued with drumming and firing of muskets amidst tight security.

The activities came to a close at about 0530 hours with no additional unusual incident recorded.

Meanwhile, the situation at the Gbewaa Palace and the entire Yendi Municipality were being monitored, the statement said.