Home>>World
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 28, 2002

Ghanaian Authorities Impose Curfew After Ethnic Clash

The Ghanaian authorities on Wednesday imposed a curfew and deployed troops into the country's northern town of Yendi after 41 people, including a traditional ruler of a major Ghanaian ethnic clan, were killed in an ethnic clash, according to a report reaching Lagos from Accra.


PRINT DISCUSSION CHINESE SEND TO FRIEND


The Ghanaian authorities on Wednesday imposed a curfew and deployed troops into the country's northern town of Yendi after 41 people, including a traditional ruler of a major Ghanaian ethnic clan, were killed in an ethnic clash, according to a report reaching here from Accra.

Armed policeman and soldiers are patrolling the streets in Yendi, 531 kilometers north of Accra, Ghana's capital, and the local secondary schools had been closed with students ordered to go home, said the report.

The ethnic clash took place at the residence of the king of the Dagombas, an influential major Ghanaian ethnic group, in the town,a police spokesman said.

In the clash, the attackers suspected to be members of the rival Abudu clan beheaded the traditional ruler and torched 25 of his supporters to death, the police spokesman said.

"Ya-Na Yakubu Andani, the Dagombas king, was beheaded in his palace. Twenty five of his followers were burnt alive," he said.

The 50-year-old king was the second-highest regent in Ghana after the ruler of the country's dominant Ashanti ethnic tribe.

According to the local police, 15 other bodies were also found in Yendi in the violence. But the police did not disclose what clan the dead belonged to.

The violence broke out last week when the Abudu faction insulted the messenger sent by the king, who considered to celebrate the Dagombas' main festival, known as the fire festival which was slated for Tuesday but was canceled after the face-off.

It was reported that the clash arose from the feud between the king's clan and the Abudu clan, which shared the chiefdom of the Dagombas on a rotating basis with the Andani family.

The Dagombas accounts for about eight percent of Ghana's population.


Questions?Comments? Click here
    Advanced

Ghanaian President Announces Cabinet Reshuffle

British Prime Minister Holds Talks with Ghanaian President

 

Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved