The National Chief Imam, Dr Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu, has condemned the act of violence between youth groups in Nima on Tuesday, January 18, 2022.

According to him, the Islamic religion is against violence, therefore, the youth must uphold and respect human lives.

Speaking at a meeting with 16 regional Imams and Zongo chiefs at his residence, he expressed disappointment in the actions of the youth.

“We express our disappointment and express our condemnation that what happened is not in accordance with the teaching of Islam. We call on the Muslim youth in Accra, Mamobi, here and across, that we must all uphold the principles of respect for human blood and sanctity of human lives. We want to say on behalf of the eminent chief Imam, we call on all imams to make it a subject on sermon on every Friday, guiding and educating our youth to find something better to do with their lives.”

He added that “Similarly we call on all chiefs in our communities to also use this occasion to strengthen the result to continue to use our culture and tradition of peace. We encourage our young people to eschew violence, idealness and not be used by anybody to foment trouble. What happened yester was an eyesore and we hope we will never see it happen again.”

Background

On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, violence erupted on the streets of Nima.

The incident that had machete-wielding young men take over the streets in a battle and others the firing of several gunshots, took the timely intervention of the police to avert an escalation of the already bloody situation.

The Ghana Police Service were able to contain the situation of which 7 people were arrested.

At a press conference, the Director of Public Affairs for the Police Service, ACP Kwesi Ofori, connected the genesis of the bloody conflict to a longstanding contention between two known gangsters in the neighbourhood.

“It is led by one Kumordzi alias Ibrahim Hussein and Baboon alias Awudu; they are rivalry groups that never agreed on issues and today they went all-out on the open streets of Nima,” ACP Kwesi Ofori describing the incident as gangsterism and mass violence stated.

Source: Ghanaweb