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The tension in Yendi has escalated as residents in protest over the arrest of the Kpatinga Chief took to the streets burning lorry tires yesterday. The Bolinlana Mahamadu Abdulai, Regent of the Late Ya-Naa Mahamadu Abdulai IV, on Sunday enskinned Natogmah Ziblim as Chief of Kpatinga under the skin name Kpatinlana Natogmah Ziblim. While being enskinned, Kampakuya Abudulai Andani Yakubu was reported to have, at the same time, enskinned one Kunkonlana as chief of the same area. Early Tuesday morning, after returning from the enskinnment ceremony and performing the mandatory rituals, a combined team of armed military and police personnel stormed Kaptinga in the Gushiegu district and arrested Kpatinlana Natogmah Ziblim. News of the arrest which inflamed the already tense Yendi community saw a number of Abudu Youth setting tires ablaze forcing local shops to close down. The younger brother of the embattled chief, Alhassan Jabila Ziblim who confirmed the arrest to DAILY GUIDE expressed worry at how he was being handled. According to him, his elder brother,80, was only performing a traditional role and called for his immediate release accusing government of politicizing a pure chieftaincy matter. DAILY GUIDE investigations at the Northern Police Command revealed that the chief was in the custody of the police and as at press time his statement was yet to be taken. It would be recalled that the entire Yendi township and its environs last Sunday were tense following the purported plan of enskinning an Abudu Kpatinglana in the ongoing fracas among the two divides in the area. A fortnight ago, the Abudu Royal family threatened to go ahead and perform outstanding funerals of deceased chiefs under their line to facilitate the eskinment of respective successors. They indicated that they no longer recognized the authority of the Kampakuya Naa as regent of Dagbon and all sub-chiefs he enskinned within the period he held the fort after the demise of his late father. This is as a result of the alleged continuous flout of the roadmap to peace by the regent Kampakuya Naa Abudulai Andani Yakubu who, despite earlier threats, was alleged to have gone ahead to perform some funerals and enskinned chiefs contrary to the agreement. The Abudus, accordingly, nullified all eskinnments initiated by the Kampakuya and insisted they would go ahead to enskin new persons to occupy a number of vacant skins in the Dagbon state to equal the number of persons he enskinned. They are particularly peeved over the performance of the funeral of the late Chief of Savelugu and subsequent eskinnment of a new chief accusing government for its involvement in violating Clause �F� of the Roadmap to Peace. Having carried through their threats and enskinned a number of sub-chiefs, tension started enveloping the area resulting in armed military and police personnel being deployed to the BON-LANA palace to forestall reprisal attacks. The Abudus said no amount of negotiations could stop them from enskinning chiefs since government watched while the Kampakuya Naa breached the road map to peace.