The Dzaasetse of Niiboiman, who doubles as the caretaker of the Asere stool, Nii Ayi Mensah I, has accused one Yartey Boi, a destooled Chief of Meibomian and his group of heavily built men of launching an attack on him and his household on Saturday, September 11, 2021.
Narrating the incident to the press, the Dzaasetse of Niiboiman, recalled that, one Numo Afran, the Custodian of Asere stool came to his house together with other Chiefs and an Asafoaste on the said day to have some discussions and at exactly 1pm, on the same day , he (Nii Ayi Mensah I) was seeing Numo Afran off to the roadside, when they met Yartey with some thugs clad in red apparel amidst drumming and chanting of war songs with some Policemen seemingly providing escort and protection to the group.
According to Nii Ayi Mensah I, upon meeting the thugs, they decided to give way so the thugs can have an easy way but within a split seconds, the Dzaasetse felt a hand around his neck, and raising his head, he realised someone amongst the thug has actually held his shirt at the neck area in an attacking manner.
According to Nii Ayi Mensah I, after raising his head for the second time, he saw Yartey Boi and other known faces including; NaaOtuahShikaTsuru I, NiiOdzema I, NiiAmooDodoo, NiiBoiSakafo I, NaaAyinmahMobonalo and NiiAmarteyOkropon I amongst others.
“I asked them what do they want here, then they replied with the following questions; who are you, do you hail from Niiboiman, amongst other questions alongside various insults as well as name calling and use of unprintable words on me,” the Dzaasetse recounted.
“You, we shall make sure you leave this town, we will kill you,” these were the words that came from the person who held the shirt of the Dzaasetse.
He continued by saying that, “I then called my children who quickly came to surround me and one of them guided me home and whiles on our way, they started throwing stones and other objects, targeting my home.”
According to the Dzaasetse, the thugs fired live bullets in the full glare of the Police who looked on unconcerned, whiles some of the thugs also threw stones and other objects into his compound.
Fortunately for Nii Ayi Mensah, the Asafoatse “Onukpa” (Head) was still around, waiting for him to return after seeing Numo Afran off. He quickly informed the Asafoatse Onukpo called the police help line to solicit for the support of the Police and unfortunately for us, the called placed by him went to the Tesano Police station and the Officers the station assigned to come to the scene were the same officers who were providing escort to the thugs.
Nii Ayi Mensah disclosed that one other disturbing occurrence was that one of his children sustained injuries on the forehead from a knife held by one of the thugs and another son who was upstairs, also sustained injuries on the foot from some of the stones which were thrown into the compound of his house.
Nii Ayi Mensah I also mentioned that a live pullet was fired at his car, a Toyota SUV which was sparked in front of his house, causing damaged to the trunk of the vehicle.
“I suspect a foul play on the side of the police because the District police Commander of the Tesano Police station was amongst the officers who were protecting the thugs. Again, this same police officer is fully aware of the destoolment of Yartey in September, 2020,” he added.
According to Nii Ayi Mensah I, when he reported the case at the Tesano Police Station, the station master was feeling reluctant to allow the charge Officer on duty at the time, receive his statement and till date, no Police Officer has been to the scene of the incident to either acquire first time information or begin any investigations whatsoever.
He also recalled that a copy of a letter preventing Yartey from holding himself up as chief and further celebrating this year’s Homowo festival was served last week and a reminder letter was again handed over to this Police Officer in question on Friday, September 10th, 2021 thus, on the eve of the attack.
“I was astonished to see this same District police Commander whom we handed over an injunction letter to stop Yartey from any celebrations just yesterday, and yet playing a major role at protecting and guiding the thugs to carry out such an attack on my family and I,” Nii Ayi Mensah stated.
He also mentioned that, he strongly believe the attack was a well-planned one, because if not for mischievous reasons, why would the thugs decide to travel a distance of over 140 metres from the main Lapaz-Niiboiman road, off the N1 Highway to come all the way to his house, which is the last but two houses on the stretch and has no other service route or road.
The Traditional Leader seized the opportunity to appeal to the president, HE Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) to help bring the Police hierarchy at the Tesano Police Station to order whiles ensuring sanity and justice.
