Some youth of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Karaga constituency in the Northern Region on Tuesday night, October 24, 2017 allegedly stormed the Karaga Police Station and freed their colleagues who were arrested earlier in the day.
The arrest followed some supporters of feuding executives of party in the area who went on rampage on the said day, vandalising party installation and a military van.
The violence began Monday afternoon, October 23, 2017 with an attack on the youth employment coordinator who is also the Constituency Youth Organiser, Mohamed Baba, over the appointment of some youth into the security service.
The party constituency executives have stayed sharply divided and tension has escalated since the DCE for the area took office.
The DCE, the organiser and the youth organiser had been accused by the constituency chairman and the other executives of hijacking the party in the area and taking decisions without deliberations and consultations.
Early last month, supporters of the chairman invaded the district assembly office and shut it down following allegations that the DCE was engaged in divide and rule.
On this latest violence, Constituency Secretary, Abdulai Ziblim, told journalists was triggered by the decision of the youth organiser to handpick some youth into the security module under the agency without telling the Constituency Chairman, Tahiru Zakaria.
He said the youth organiser refused to honour an invitation by the chairman to brief him on how those youth were selected.
He said the chairman demanded answers because many party youth were not part of the list.
He said violence between supporters of the chairman and the youth organizer ensued in the afternoon when the chairman went to confront the organiser for turning down his summon. Members of the party reportedly engaged themselves with objects in the open brawl.
According to him, a motorbike belonging to the youth employment director was seized and taken away by the supporters of the chairman.
The police rushed to the scene and calm was restored.
However, chaos broke again in the night when some soldiers allegedly acting upon the directives of the DCE stormed the town and arrested two supporters of the chairman.
Another free for all fight broke out again at about 3:00 am between the feuding supporters when the two were successfully removed from the police cells.
One person was head-butted and was receiving treatment. The seized motorbike also suffered an arson attack.
The DCE and the youth organiser were readily unavailable for comments while the Police remain tight-lipped on the chaos.
Story: News Desk
