Abudus accuse military of kidnapping Bole La Na’s Caretaker

The Abudu royal family has described the arrest of the Caretaker of the Bole La Na as kidnapping. The Mbadugu was picked up with 29 other Abudus early Saturday morning by soldiers and Police officers in Yendi in the Northern region. It is not clear where they have been taken or why they were rounded up.

Our Northern regional Correspondent, Abdul Karim Natomgba reports of simmering tension between the Abudu and Andani royal families over the arrest of the Abudu leaders Saturday morning. The two Gates have fought over which Gate is the rightful successor to the beheaded Dagbon Overlord, Ya Na Yakubu Andani II. The NDC promised to prosecute the alleged perpetrators upon assumption of office.

The Andanis have held several press conferences in the past and in recent times calling on Government to expedite action on the matter. It is unclear if the arrest of the 30 persons is connected to the late Ya Na's murder.

Spokesperson for the Abudu Gate Dr Zblim Iddi told Citi News that the caretaker of the regent of the Abudu royal family was kidnapped from the palace and has been taken to an undisclosed area. “The old man was picked up without the benefit of legal representation; he was picked up without his family being informed where he was taken to”.

Moreover he stated, “the information we have is that these were people in uniform, I can’t sit here and conclude that it was carried out by the government, but we all know in Ghana these are people who represent the state, so if they came in uniform, people will identify them as representatives of the state am not concluding that the government actually is aware until the government comes out and explain to the people of Ghana why such an exercise will be carried on in this day and age under a constitutional dispensation.”

Meanwhile, Spokesperson for the Andani Family, Dr Yehuza Gomda, who recently held a press conference calling on the Government to prosecute the murderers of the Ya Na, told Citi News that “…the security forces won’t take two weeks to identify people and then round them up, perhaps there had been an investigation going on and the security will never come out to tell that this is what I am doing, so if they come right now to arrest people that means they have now had the right information about this people that’s why they have now come out to arrest them.”

Dr Gomda further described the Bole La Na and the Mbadugu as imposters “…In the first place there is nothing like Bole La Na, who made that guy Bole La Na, and who make that guy his Mbadugu, we have our tradition and each tradition must be followed, Bole La Na is an imposter it was his father who was Bole La Na, and nobody knows Mbadugu, so please let’s stop throw dust into the eyes of our people.”

Citi Fm’s Northern regional Correspondent Abdul Karim Nantogma reports that Residents in the area, women and children especially, are fleeing to neighboring towns and villages in anticipation of skirmishes.