The nineth prosecution witness in the Ya-Na murder case Tuesday denied a suggestion from the lead defence counsel that he was mercenary brought in from Tamale to fight the Abudus. Mohammed Achana said though he fought alongside one Ibrahim Diba and others to defend the Gbewaa palace, they felt it a duty to do so since they were warriors for the Ya-Na. Achana was being cross-examined by the lead defence counsel, Philip Addison, in the case in which 15 people e been accused of conspiracy to kill the Overlord of Dagbon, Ya-Na Yakubu Ahdani. Fourteen of them have pleaded not guilty and have remanded into police custody by the trial judge, Justice E.K. Ayibi. They include Iddrisu Iddi, a.k.a Mbadugu, Baba Abulai Iddrisu, a.k.a. Zohe, Kwame Alhassan, a.k.a. Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai, a.k.a. Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Mohammed Habib Tijani as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th accused Tuesday. The rest are Baba Ibrahim, a.k.a. Saba Zey, Alhassan Mohammed, a.k.a. Mohammed Cheampong," Mohammed Mustapha, Shani Imoro, Yakubu Yusif, a.k.a. Leftee, Hammed Abukari Yusif, and Abdul Razak Yusif, a.k.a. Nyaa as 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and" 15th' accused, respectively. Zakaria Yakubu, a.k.a. Zakaria Forest, the seventh accused, is at large. Achana denied another suggestion that while he was tasked to man the back entrance of the palace, Diba was in charge of the main entrance and it was not until Diba fell that he (Achana) surrendered after using G3 rifles to fight the Abudus. Witness, however, admitted that as a warrior of the Ya-Na, he and others used short guns to defend the palace when it came under attack by the Abudus. Achana also denied that many people saw him firing a G3 rifle from the top of a mosque. He further denied that he surrendered the G3 rifle with which he fought the Abudus, to the police when he felt that there was an imminent defeat. Earlier in his testimony, Achana who said he was a warrior and an in-law to the Ya-Na, said he went to Yendi on March 26, 2002 from Tamale, after an announcement on Radio Savanna that the Ya-Na could not celebrate the fire festival because of some circumstances. On reaching the palace at Yendi, witness said he heard gunshots from the Abudu-dominated area which intensified when he started discussions with the Ya-Na. Witness said he and other warriors decided the palace with short guns usually used for musketry when it became obvious that the palace was under attack. During the afternoon, he said the firing started again with some of the houses in the palace being set ablaze. In the morning of March 27, 2002, witness said the firing of gunshots resumed with the attackers getting so close to the palace and setting the entire palace ablaze by 9 am. At a point, he said, he held the hand of the Ya-Na in an attempt to take him out of the palace but the Ya-Na asked him to go alone. Witness said he came out of the palace with both hands raised to signify his total surrender but was shot at after a voice from behind said "this is Red, let us kill him". He said he decided to go to the police station to seek refuge but a friend, an Abudu, called Yakubu Abudu, who saw him invited him to come for safekeeping after promising to offer him protection. "As I turned towards him, he fired at me and the bullets scraped the side of my neck. Just then, I called the quartermaster of the station, Inspector Ben, who rushed out of his office and ordered' the police to fire warning shots to disperse my pursuers," he said. Witness said he was then taken to the Yendi hospital but was transferred to Tamale for further treatment on March 29, 2002. Hearing continues Wednesday. Source: Ghanaian Times