[ 2014-03-12 ]

4 Arrested at Joma over chief’s death
Four community leaders at Joma, near Ablekuma in
Accra, have been picked up by the police to help
in investigations into the gruesome murder of the
chief of the town.


Nii Ayittey Noyatse, the Joma Mantse, was shot and
killed by unidentified assailants in his room on
Monday.

Those arrested include a rival chief, Nii Solomon
Aya Ayii, and the Zongo Chief of Joma, Sariki
Moses.

The Chief Linguist of the community, Nii Ayikoi
Ayeh, and an elder, Nii Sipi, who are reported to
have gone to the house of the chief on Monday
morning for a court appointment, are also being
interrogated by the Odorkor Police as of press
time yesterday.

Information for reward

Briefing journalists, the Accra Regional Police
Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr
Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said police
investigations would focus on land guards,
relatives and rivals of the deceased.

He pointed out that the issue of land guards was
prominent in the area.

“When the people recruit these land guards, they
give the land guards weapons and with time the
land guards become powerful and turn against
them,” he said.

He also stated that the police suspected “an
insider” who could be a close relation and also
rivals in the community.

He urged the public to provide any form of
information that could help the police in their
investigations for a reward.

Mr Yohuno assured the public that the perpetrators
would be brought to book.

Mother of deceased

When the Daily Graphic visited the palace of the
deceased, family members and sympathisers in black
and brown mourning clothes had gathered.

The mother of the deceased, Rebecca Laryea, who
could not control her tears, said she was called
about 6 a.m. on Monday that her son had been found
dead in his room.

“I was told that two men had come to call him
to go with them to court over a land litigation
issue, but after they had called several times and
he was not responding, one of the children went to
the window and found it slightly open,” she
said.

According to her, when the child peeped through
the window, he found the intestines of the chief
gushed out and cried for help.

Father suspects land guards

The father of the late Joma Chief, Pastor John Ayi
Okai, suspected that his son had been shot over
land issues, as he had been threatened on a number
of occasions by land guards in the area.

“Since he was made chief about three years ago,
his life had been threatened on a number of
occasions by land guards,” he said.

Source - Daily Graphic

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