Police in Tamale are keeping a man in custody for allegedly defrauding a chief in the Nanton traditional area in the Northern region of a sum of GH50,000.00 after he (the chief) attempted to use inducements to seek the Nanton chieftaincy skin.
28-year-old Ibrahim Musah is currently facing charges for defrauding the chief of Sahakpaligu when he tried lobbying traditional decision makers to appoint him next chief of the Nanton paramountcy following the death of Nanton Naa Alhaji Alhassan Sulemana.
Police said in May this year, just eight months after the late chief died, the son of Sahakpaligu chief Sulemana Seidu approached the secretary of the Nanton palace, Sulley Seidu, also a son of the late chief and declared his father’s interest in the vacant skin and sought for his support.
The Son of the late Nanton chief, according to police, allegedly agreed to promote and assist the ambition of the sub chief and then gave out a mobile phone number purported to be telephone contact details of the Regent of Yendi to Sulemana Seidu.
From June to August this year, police added, the chief of Sahakpaligu and his son begun to engage the contact giving to them by the palace secretary and son of late Naa Alhassan. Details of their engagement were not provided but police said the contact immediately confirmed as the Regent of Yendi.
The contact in the course of interactions was able to trick the chief to send half a million cedis to the number through the Mobile Money transaction. Police have unveiled the number; 0540447874.
According to the police statement delivered to newsmen through the internet by the regional police spokesman ASP Mohammed Tanko, the deal was however uncovered when the sub chief paid recent visit to the Regent to ascertain progress of ‘their’ engagement and also make bigger commitment.
“The Regent denied having received such monies”, according to investigators, adding that, “The complainant further checks at the MTN office, Tamale and got to the owner being Ibrahim Musah and then reported the case to police on 02/09/17 leading to the arrest of the suspect on 05/09/17”.
The secretary and son of the late Nanton Naa Sulley Seidu who gave out the contact to the suspect was earlier arrested by the police but released without any charge for yet undisclosed reasons.
It is also unclear why the palace secretary agreed to assist another candidate against his own brother who is the current Regent of Nanton and may also contest for the skin but StarrNews understands it is now the subject of palatial investigations, and the secretary would be handed a harsher sanction when found culpable.
The chief of Sahakpaligu is legitimate to occupy the Nanton skin but palace sources told Starr News some elders of the palace are angry and disturbed by the action of the sub chief.
The sources said others feel the sub chief was very desperate and are considering a punishing him for customary violations.
The chief of Nanton died in early September last year. During his funeral rite two weeks after, some chiefs of the Abudu and Andani royal families clashed over the right to officiate an installation of a regent for the traditional area. Security forces were deployed and calm assured. I
Ssahaka Sulemana, a director at the Audit Service and elder son of the late chief was enskinned the Regent pending final funeral ceremony of which date is yet not known by elders of the paramountcy.
