Chief, 2 others arrested for burying cow parts for ritual
Some residents and the Asafo group of Ablekuma in Accra last Sunday nearly lynched the Paramount Chief of the Awutu Traditional Area, Nai Abokuadzi Whettey Otabil lll, for allegedly burying parts of a cow at Nsumfa, near Ablekuma, for ritual purposes.
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The angry residents joined the Asafo group of the community and charged on Nai Otabil when news spread that he had been caught, with two other persons, performing some rituals on a parcel of land which did not belong to him.
When the Daily Graphic visited the scene of the incident yesterday, it observed that there was blood all over the ground, while a portion of the land where the cow parts had been buried had been cordoned off with white calico cloth.
Also found at the scene were an earthenware bowl full of mashed yam mixed with red oil (etor) and a bottle of liquor.
At the demand of the angry mob, Nai Otabil and his boys (who are yet to be identified) dug out the covered pit and removed parts of the cow that had been buried.
The decomposing parts of the cow included the head, limbs and intestines.
Timely intervention
But for the timely intervention of the Chief of Ablekuma, Nii Larbi Mensah, who also doubles as the Asafoatse of Sempe, the mob, who had threatened to lynch the Awutu chief and bury him where he had allegedly buried the head and other parts of the cow, would have carried out their intentions.
Nii Mensah pleaded with the mob to hand Nai Otabil over to the police.
He explained that lynching Nai Otabil would only go to further tarnish the image of Ablekuma, since two policemen had once been killed and buried in the town.
The Anyah Police, who had received information about the incident, arrived on the scene and accompanied Nai Otabil to the police station.
According to Nii Mensah, he had received a call from a member of the Asafo group at dawn last Sunday that some members of the group had seen a man digging a pit to bury something on a piece of land.
He said the caller had indicated that the people had initially suspected it was a human being which was being buried, but it turned out to be the head of a cow.
Since the piece of land in question was within his jurisdiction, Nii Mensah said, he was worried but “it was very late and there was no one on the land”.
Arrest
Last Monday when some members of the Asafo group went to the said land, they saw a portion covered with white calico, with blood sprinkled all over the place, mashed yam mixed with red oil and a bottle of liquor.
To confirm their suspicion, the group and some residents laid ambush to find out who was behind what they had seen.
At 1 p.m., they saw three men arrive in a car and, without knowing that they were being closely watched, the three proceeded to perform some rituals.
At that instance, the group started questioning the three men to find out what they were doing and ordered them to dig out whatever had been buried in the ground.
The confrontation intensified when the group found out that the leader of the three men was Nai Otabil, the Paramount Chief of Awutu in the Central Region.
The group wondered why the paramount chief had come all the way to Ablekuma to slaughter and bury a cow without informing the traditional authority or even the owner of the piece of land.
When the Anyah Police were contacted, it was learnt that Nai Otabil had told the police in his caution statement that he had no knowledge of the parts of the cow which were found in the ground.
According to the police, the chief claimed that he was passing by when he saw someone burying something in the area.
The chief was reported to have told the police that he went near the scene, only for him to be accused of being involved in performing rituals.
The police have since granted Nai Otabil bail to report himself every day while investigations continue.
