The Paramount Chief of Upper Dixcove, Hima Dekyi, and his counterpart from Lower Dixcove, Kwesi Agyemang III have, been fighting over the ownership of the village.
A dispute over the ownership of Toromu, a village between Lower and Upper Dixcove traditional areas in the Western Region, turned nasty on Monday, as several people, including the mother of one of the chiefs and a Queen-mother sustained cutlass wounds after they were attacked by the rival group.
The Chronicle learnt that the latest dispute erupted when the mother of Nana Hima Dekyi, Christiana Akua Yeboah, led a retinue of sub-chiefs from the Upper Dixcove Traditional Area on a pilgrimage to Toromu, the disputed land. The mother of the Chief and her team were attacked with cutlasses and later taken hostage in the Palace of the rival chief from Lower Dixcove, Kwesi Agyemang.
It had to take the intervention of the police to rescue the wounded hostages.
The Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), DSP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, confirmed to this reporter in a telephone interview that the police had a call from the Omanhene of Lower Dixcove alerting them of the attack.
Olivia said when the police team got there, six persons, including the mother of the rival Paramount Chief, and another Queenmother and other sub-chiefs had been wounded and held hostage.
She said the police rescued and drove them straight to the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital for treatment. “Where was Nana Kwesi Agyemang when the attack and the hostage occurred,” this reporter asked and the police PRO, who answered that the former told the police in his report that he was not in town at the time the incident happened.
Olivia Adiku continued that later, the Paramount Chief of Upper Dixcove, Nana Hima Dekyi, also called the police to report of the attack on his sub-chiefs, including his mother.
Asked whether the police had made any arrests, Olivia answered in the negative.
Her reasons was that since those who were wounded and taken hostage were better placed to give a vivid account to the police, her outfit was waiting for them to be discharged from the hospital.
Those wounded in the attack were Charlotte Yeboah, Nana Dicko Kra, Joana Aidoo, Sadick Shobayo, Dekyi Manza, and Christiana Yeboah.
Four years ago, Nana Kwesi Agyemang, Paramount Chief of Lower Dixcove, together with some of his sub-chiefs, were also attacked, wounded and taken hostage at the palace of his rival colleague chief, Hima Dekyi. Since the attack, the police have made no arrests.
The ownership of Toromu has been a subject of litigation between the two rival paramountcies. Albeit, Hima Dekyi of Upper Dixcove claims he had a court judgement over ownership of Tormu in his favour.
At the last Kundum Festival held by Hima Dekyi in 2017, he appealed to his rival chief to desist referring to Toromu as part of Lower Dixcove, and that everything showed that Toromu was on the land of Upper Dixcove.
It did not take long when Kwesi Agyemang was later abducted from his palace and taken hostage at the palace of Hima Dekyi.
