Residents living in fear after 3 more shot dead at Battor
Residents of Battor in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region are living in fear over the recent clashes and killings over the chieftaincy dispute at Battor Traditional Area.
The residents say they live in fear after three more people have been killed.
Three more dead in Battor:
Three more persons have been shot dead, while several others have been injured following a clash between some members of the Dzekle Royal Family and the stool father of the Battor Traditional Area in the North Tongu District.
This brings the total death toll to five after two people were shot dead in an earlier incident.
The shooting incident is due to the destoolment of the paramount chief of the Battor Traditional Area, Togbe Patamia Dzekle IV.
The latest clash began on Friday, December 16. It escalated between the two supporters during a procession of the firing of musketry in the Battor ahead of the Hogbeza Festival, which was supposed to be suspended after a court ruling.
Although police have restored calm in the Battor after the arrest of some perpetrators, they are still on the manhunt for some other suspects involved in Friday’s disturbances.
Background
The Paramount Chief of the Battor Traditional Area in the Volta Region, Togbe Patamia Dzekle VII, was destooled on November 27, 2022, by the stool father, Zikpoetor Korsi Hottor, after it was alleged that the paramount chief had breached customs and traditions of the Battor Traditional Area.
According to the Dzekley Stool Father, the conduct of the ex-paramount chief had placed the entire Battor in a state of danger, and the kingmakers were left with no other option than to resort to their time-tested customs and traditions for the destoolment of the ex-paramount chief to avert calamity.
The ex-paramount chief was presented with a list of violations of the customs and traditions of Battor, which among others were the prevention of the performance of purification rites for the Dzekley Stool for over eight years.
“That it is against our tradition and custom to lock the stool room permanently by any justifiable cause, but Togbega Patamia Dzekley VII locked the stool room for well over seven years against all protestations.
“We the Royals no longer had access to the stool room to perform our traditional and stool rites in line with our tradition and custom.
“This unfortunate action, which is in clear violation of our custom and tradition, is threatening the peace of the chiefdom,” he said.
By Sandra Adei Djanie
