Googo (U/E), Feb 15, GNA - Most residents of Googo, a predominantly farming community in the Bawku West District, are destroying trees in the community and its environs alleged to be possessed by evil spirits that are terrorizing the people.
The people are living in fear because they believe the trees turn into human beings at night and harm them.
According to the residents, so far two people have died mysteriously after they had encountered the transfigured evil trees. They claimed several others are suffering from strange illnesses. The residents have therefore decided to revenge by either burning down the alleged evil trees or cutting them down.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency about the ordeal of his people the Chief of Googo, Naba Akpaam Abugri, said one of the victims, Seidu, was returning home from a funeral with some meat and when he passed by a tree it transfigured into a human being and struggled with him (victim) to take away. The victim shouted for help and when people started rushing to his aid, he was freed and the tree transfigured to its original form.
According to him when the victim got home and narrated his encounter with the tree, his wife and children refused to eat the meat but he prepared it by himself and ate it and a few days later he fell ill and died. The second person, Adongo Adombire, also died after a tree turned into a human being and begged for something from him which he refused.
Naba Akpaam Abugri said some people including a woman had been paralyzed after they reported their ordeal with the evil trees. Another victim, Mr Atampugri Akugri, claimed that one night he was on hi= s way to visit his brother when an evil tree attacked him. He said the tree pursued him to his house and even tried entering his room.
On another night, a tree transfigured into a human being and attacked him, he said. After the attack, he travelled to the south but upon his arrival he developed a sore and was later told by a soothsayer that it was as a result of his encounter with the evil tree.
Mr Akugri said a few weeks ago, he encountered a similar attack but thi= s time round he took a bold step to revenge setting the tree on fire but it did not burn. His last attempt was two weeks ago when the Chief had to prevent him fro= m doing so.
The chief and his elders had since punished the man by instructing him to plant 10 trees around the tree so that in case it dies, those ones could replace it.
The mother of the Chief, Lardi Bawa, also alleged that a tree tied her u= p when she dozed off on her farm which is located close to where one of the trees stood. According to her, she is a Christian and when she realized that she was being attacked spiritually, she shouted 93Jesus" and immediately she= was freed.
The former Assembly member for the area, Mr Stephen Mbah whose house is close to one of the trees, told GNA that though he had not encountered any of the attacks, he had on several occasions been woken up from sleep by people who claimed they had been attacked by a tree.
According to him, he being a Christian might be the reason for his immunity from such attacks.
Naba Akpaam Abugri said though he could not defend or condemn the issue of trees turning themselves into human being, he was not happy that in the past and at present, people took and still take revenge against the trees by either cutting or burning them down as punishment because he acknowledges the saying that 93if the last tree dies the last man dies".
He said if any person burnt or cut down a tree for allegedly processing evil spirits, he or she would be asked to plant several trees in replacement of the alleged spirit tree.
The chief took this reporter to a shady tree which he said his forefather woke up one day and saw. He also pointed at a baobab tree that also appeared suddenly.
Naba Akpaam Abugri said one of the trees cries out in the night in case there is going to be a mysterious death in the community and people are not allowed to rest under it.
He said two people paid the price for breaking this taboo 96 one is deaf and dumb and another is insane.
The Rev James Abaringa, a pastor of the local Assemblies of God Church, said though it was difficult to understand the strange happenings, he believed it might be the hand work of evil spirits that are mentioned in the Bible.
He said those spirits that did not have dwelling places might have taken over the trees and are terrorizing the people in the area. He said the church would help in changing the mind set of the people through education in order to eliminate the dominance of evil spirits.
