Ms Elizabeth Ohene, a Minister of State, on Wednesday described the death of Ya Naa Yakubu Andani II, Paramount Chief of Dagbon Traditional Area, as a tragedy that has befallen the country.

"This is a very devastating incident. The Ya Naa was a very prominent chief," she told journalists in Accra during a press briefing. She said President John Agyekum Kufuor had ordered a proper investigation into the incident and cautioned journalists not to bring in partisan sentiments into the tragedy.

"This is a situation that can consume us. Let us help the people of Yendi contain it. It is a tragedy for Yendi. It is a tragedy for all of us. "We can make it an even greater tragedy by stoking it." Ms Ohene said she did not have casualty figures, but added that the police and military reinforcements had been sent to the area.

President Kufuor has declared a state of emergency in the Dagbon areas of the Northern Region with immediate effect following the tragic death of the Ya-Na and many others in a chieftaincy conflict.