But for the timely intervention of personnel from the Ellembelle District Police Command, irate youth of Anwia, a farming community in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region would have subjected Nana Simale Kpanyile V, Chief of the area to severe beatings.
The enraged youth, who were carrying dangerous implements like cutlasses and machetes among others stormed the Chief’s palace and took over its frontage, amidst chanting of war songs, with one mission -to teach their leader a bitter lesson.
According to information reaching The Chronicle, it was a nightmarish moment as Nana Kpanyile V had to run for his dear life by jumping over the tall walls surrounding the palace, on the blind side of the fuming youth.
Unfortunately for Nana, some of the youth saw him scaling over the wall and, therefore, called on their colleagues, who gave him a hot chase.
However, the terrified Chief managed to outpace the youthful crowd and eventually hid in one of the abandoned pits of Adamus Resource Limited, a mining company operating in the area, where he spent the rest of the night.
The Chronicle gathered that for some time now, the mining company has been using dynamite to carry out blasting within its acquired concession.
And anytime the blasting was carried out, its impact ended up destroying properties, by creating cracks in nearby buildings and damaging electrical gadgets belonging to people in the area.
Members of the community, right from the elderly to the youth have complained several times to the Chief and his elders to do something about it, but to no avail.
Regrettably, last Tuesday, the company carried out yet another blasting, which led to cracks in a number of buildings in the area, as well as damaging electrical appliances owned by members of the community.
This ignited the anger of the youth who then decided to march to the palace of the Chief to vent their spleen on him, for not doing anything to stop the mining company from carrying out its blasting activities.
Some eyewitnesses who spoke in an interview with the paper, on condition of anonymity, confirmed that when the charged youth stormed the Chief’s palace, they saw him (the Chief) scaling over the wall and running for his dear life.
Michael Owusu, a Journalist who operates in the community confirmed to the paper in a telephone interview that the chief spent the rest of the night in the mining pit, for fear of his life.
Elders of the Chief, Mr. Owusu continued, also ran helter-skelter from the rampaging youth.
According to the Journalist, it was until the following day (Wednesday) that the Ellembelle District Police Commander led a team of police personnel to the town to rescue Nana Kpanyile V from the mining pit.
When contacted on phone, Nana Kpanyile V confirmed that indeed the irate youth of the town marched to his palace and he had no option than to jump over the wall to escape.
He said he had to hide in the abandoned mining pit to avoid the wrath of the youth in the community.
Nana also confirmed that he spent the rest of the night in the pit until the District Police Commander arrived the following morning with his team of police personnel to rescue him.
Narrating what he believed is the reason why the youth decided to attack him to this reporter, Nana Kpanyile V explained that on Tuesday night, Adamus Resource Limited carried out what he described as a severe blasting at their site, which is very close to the community.
According to him, the severity of the blasting led to the development of cracks in people’s houses and damaged their electronic gadgets such as television, radio sets and refrigerators among others.
He said the visibly angry members of the community, therefore, thronged his palace to vent their spleen on him, because they had concluded that he (the Chief) had done nothing to stop the mining company from carrying out its blasting activities, which is destroying their properties.
Nana indicated that he and his elders had written several letters to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mineral Commission and the District Assembly among others, to complain about the effect of the company’s blasting activities on their lives and properties.
However, he continued that, the institutions involved have failed to act on their letters, leading to the community members attempting to lynch him, under the suspicion that he (the chief) had connived with the mining company to carry out their blasting activities.
Nana Kpanyile V told this reporter that after he was rescued from his hideout by the Police, he had managed to arrange a meeting between management of the mining company and members of the community to ensure that the issue was addressed amicably.
Nana Kpanyile V continued that in attendance at the meeting were the General Manager, Social Responsibility Manager and Security Chief, as well as the entire community.
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