Some irate youth belonging to the Abudu gate of the Dagbon traditional area have held traders at the Yendi Market hostage, brutally assaulted them and locked up their stores. The Sunday April 11rampage, was in protest against the arrest of Mba Dugu Iddi Alhassan, caretaker of the regent of the Abudu gate and dozens of others on the early dawn of last Saturday April 10 in connection to murder of the Yaa-Naa Yakubu Andani, the overlord of the Dagbon traditional area and 40 others in March 2002.
Vehicles carrying traders from Tamale to Yendi to do business as a usual practice every Yendi market day were blocked and chased away with a threat to kill whoever attempted to have their way into Yendi. But for the timely intervention of the security forces the situation could have been worse as the area is tensed up. The security agencies who were heavily deployed to maintain law and order ban the news conference and any other gathering of people suspected to foment trouble.
The rampage preceded a proposed news conference by the Abudu youth at the Bolin-Lana’s palace where a cross-section of the media were invited for the youth to articulate their grievances regarding the Saturday dawn arrest of their leaders.
In an exclusive interview with northernghana.com, Abubakari Alhassan alias Nachin-Naa, youth leader of the Abudu gate hinted that the exercise was going to be carried out unabated till the Mba Dugu and the other suspects held in police custody were released. He accused government of taken sides in the age long protracted Dagbon chieftaincy crisis Meanwhile the security forces are keeping check on the people in the various satellite communities of the Dagbon state such as Guhegu, Diare, Nantong , Gbungbaliga in order to avert occurrence of such riot.
