The first prosecution witness in the Ya-Na murder trial yesterday began testifying in the case in which 15 persons are accused of conspiracy and murder of the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II, the Overlord of Dagbon. Abukari Amadu, who said he was the chief attendant to the late king, narrated an account of how the dispute started in March, 2002 and said it was rumoured at the time that the Abudus in Yendi had claimed they would not allow the celebration of that year's fire festival by the late king. Led in evidence by Ms Gertrude Aikins, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the witness said between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. on March 23, 2002, a policeman delivered a letter to the Ya-Na which invited two representatives of the king to a meeting at the police station with the then District Chief Executive, Mohammed Habib Tijani, one of the accused persons, whom he identified in court. The witness said the Ya-Na then selected two persons to attend the meeting and on their return, they delivered a message that the DISEC and DCE were going to impose a curfew on the Yendi Township on March 24, 2002. According to him, the elders of the town then requested the DCE to come to the palace to personally deliver the message to the late king but he refused. He said later in the day, the DCE sent the registrar of the Dagbon Divisional Council to explain to the Ya-Na the reason for the curfew, but when the DCE failed to turn up the Ya-Na summoned the then regional minister to come and explain the rationale behind the curfew. Amadu said when the Regional Minister came at about 3 p.m. he told the Ya-Na that he was unaware of the curfew and that he would see the Abudus and return later with the DCE. The Ya-Na, he said, inquired from the DCE the historical antecedents of the postponement of the festival and declared that it was unprecedented in the history of the festival. He said after that meeting the Ya-Na declared that every Dagomba should be present in the palace for the festival to be celebrated," since nothing was going to happen. He said in the evening of March 24, 2002, he visited a friend who lived among the Abudus and overhead a discussion that the Ya-Na was going to be killed. "When I heard that I sneaked out from the palace and went to inform my elders about what I heard to which they replied that it was one of the usual rumours going round," he said. Amadu said on March 25, 2002 when the council of elders had met at the palace to say prayers for the commencement of the festival, a message was received from one Ziblim that he had been attacked by some Abudus and his bicycle taken from him. He said two other persons were attacked and suddenly they heard some gunshots outside. The attack, he said, continued until the next day and the occupants of the palace resisted by also using locally manufactured guns to fire at the Abudus. He said in the afternoon an auto mechanic went to the palace and requested the elders to let him see the Ya-Na to deliver a message. According to Amadu, the mechanic claimed that while at the military barracks the DCE and the military commander discussed a failed execution of a certain assignment, which the commander said would be executed by 4 p.m. that day. He said when the attack intensified he went to hide himself in a dilapidated prison quarters where he saw Yidana Sugri and others boasting of having killed the king while one of them held the king's severed arm. "I heard drumming and dancing in Dagbani which meant that the king/leader had been killed and when I finally ran out I saw the king's wrist watch before running to the roadside to board a vehicle to Tamale,” he said. During cross-examination by Mr Philip Addison, lead counsel for the accused persons, the witness denied that there was a stockpile of ammunition in the Gbewaa Palace. He said he testified in the trial of Yidana Sugri and Jahinfo and used the same evidence at the trial at the Wuaku Commission but had no idea that they were acquitted on the same charges for which the instant accused persons were in court. The witness agreed with counsel that some people were rescued from the palace. All the 14 accused persons have pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to murder the Ya-Na, while another person, Zakaria Yakubu, now at large, is facing one count of murder of the Ya-Na. The suspects are Alhaji Baba Abdulai Iddrisu, aka Zohe, Kwame Alhassan, aka Achiri, Mohamadu Abdulai, aka Samasama, Sayibu Mohammed, Alhassan Braimah and Alhaji Mohammed Habib Tijani, a former District Chief Executive (DCE) for Yendi during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime, and Iddrisu Iddi. The rest are Alhassan Mohammed, alias Mohammed Cheampon, Abukari Nabeli, aka Kunkakums or Kooms, Mohammed Mustapha, Yakubu Yusif, aka Leftee, Abdul Razak Yussif, aka Nyaa, and Shani Imoro. The prosecution has indicated that evidence will be led to show that Nabeli held two used lorry tyres at the time of the incident, which he put on the body of the Ya-Na, while Mustapha held a gallon of petrol on the body to set it ablaze. It said Yusif had also held a gun to the body and that Yakubu had been seen with a chainsaw machine. Source: Daily Graphic