TUOBODOM - 8 FOR COURT TODAY (1b, MARCH 10, 2010)

Eight people suspected to be involved in last Friday’s communal violence at Tuobodom, a town in the Techiman municipality of the Brong Ahafo Region, have been arrested.
The eight, who have been charged for unlawful possession of ammunition, will appear before the circuit court at Fiapre, near Sunyani, today, March 10, 2010.
The disturbances followed the arrest of Nana Asare Baffour II, the rival Omanhene of Tuobodom who owes allegiance to the Golden Stool, by some youth of Techiman at the Wenchi Court last Friday and later handed over to the police.
It is alleged that Nana Baffour was one of the people who masterminded the attack on the Techimanhene’s convoy on its way to Tuobodom in October 2008 to take part in the Yam Festival being celebrated by Nana Obeng Ameyaw II, the other rival chief of Tuobodom and Akyempimhene of the Techiman Traditional Area who owes allegiance to the Techimanhene.
The Techimanhene reported the shooting incident on his convoy to the police and further provided a list of those suspected to have shot into the convoy.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Seth Charles Oteng, who confirmed the arrests, said those who fled Tuobodom following the disturbances that claimed three lives were returning to the town.
He added that commercial activities had partially resumed in the town, as some shops had been opened for business, while commercial drivers, especially taxi drivers, who stopped plying the town had also resumed their services.
However, schools in the town are still closed.
DCOP Oteng said the situation now remained calm but the combined police and military team deployed in the town would remain till there was total peace and stability.
In another development, the Brong Ahafo Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has met to review the situation on the ground.
The Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, who is also the Chairman of the REGSEC, reiterated that although the situation was calm, the police and military contingent deployed to maintain law and order would remain in the town till there was total peace and stability.
Meanwhile, in an interview, Mr Samuel Adjei Boahen, the Secretary and Spokesperson to Nana Baffour, said he, in the company of Nana Baffour, had gone to the Wenchi High Court on a different case last Friday.
He said on that day, the court did not sit and while they were there waiting for their lawyer to arrive, some youth accosted them and bundled them into a waiting Ford bus and sent them to the Techimanhene’s Palace in Techiman where they were stripped naked and subjected to severe beatings until they were rescued by the police in Techiman.
Mr Boahen said in the process, their mobile phones and other valuables on them were taken away and they were later sent to the Regional Police Headquarters in Sunyani where their statements were taken and later granted bail.
He added that they were also given police medical forms to attend hospital, which they did.
It would be recalled that the disturbances left in their wake three persons dead, with four others, including a policeman, sustaining gunshot wounds. The injured were treated and discharged at the Techiman Holy Family Hospital, while 500 people were also displaced.