The Tema Traditional Council (TTC) has performed some traditional rights against the killings of two men and the injuries of three others during the final procession of this year’s Kplejoo festival.
The performance of the rites, which were to invoke the spirits of their gods and ancestors to intervene in such killings and deaths during the celebration of their festivals, was led by Nyaado Nii Dade Abo Hamler, the second Aboitse We Wolomo (traditional priest).
Clad in his white traditional priest apparel and accompanied by the Awudum chief priest, he led the host of priestesses, who were dressed in red, and chanted war songs to signify their hurt and pain as they moved to all 22 clan houses in Tema Newtown to pour libation and perform the necessary rites.
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) gathered that the Aboitse We priest is the one in charge of all the priestesses in the town and also the priest of Ashaman, one of the two major shrines in the town.
Aboitse clan is said to be the warrior clan of Tema, and history has it that when their flag is lifted, it means the town is embarking on a war; in that light, their priest leading the traditional rites means the people of Tema were on a spiritual war with the killers of the two.
Mr. Henry Okoe Oninku, the youth spokesperson for the TTC, said even though they were waiting for the Ghana Police Service to investigate the matter, there were some important rites they needed to perform.
Mr. Oninku added that the rites were to ask for peace and rest for those who were killed, while they also invoked the spirit of their gods to intervene in the matter.
“We are invoking the powers of our gods; if they will sit and allow people to kill us because we are celebrating our festival, we leave it to them,” he emphasised.
He said they requested the presence of the police for the performance of the rites to prevent some of the aggrieved youth from taking the law into their own hands, as the TTC was law-abiding.
