More than 20 lives have been reportedly lost in a renewed chieftaincy clash in Bawku in the Upper East Region.
The security situation there is worsening as violence enters the sixth day since it started on Thursday night, October 24, 2024.
Reliable sources told the Ghana News Agency that the clash is as a result of a reported return of a new chief enskinned by one of the factions involved in the protracted conflict.
A High Court had initially issued a warrant for the arrest of the new chief as it deemed its enskinment as illegal.
However, the court a few days ago, withdrew the arrest warrant and that paved way for the chief to return to the area which sparked tension and subsequently led to gunshots leading to several deaths and injuries.
The violent clash begun with the alleged killing of an 11-year-old girl by one of the factions involved in the clash.
Apart from the 20 people reportedly killed in the Bawku Township, the incident had also been linked to last Sunday’s attack on the Bolgatanga-Tamale Highway, near Walewale.
The incident involved unidentified armed gunmen who blocked the road and opened fire on travellers, killing eight people and setting some vehicles ablaze.
Currently, public facilities including schools, healthcare facilities and other state institutions have been closed, making access to education, healthcare services and other social services difficult.
Economic activities have also come to a standstill with markets, shops and places of public gathering being deserted.
Again, on Monday morning, some youth locked up the offices of the Bawku Municipal Assembly with an ultimatum to the government to resolve the issue within 24 hours and threatened to burn down the building should government fail to act on their demands.
Many residents including social workers have fled the town to seek refuge elsewhere, with the presence of the security services comprising the police and military still working to protect lives and restore peace to the area.
Also, some women in Bawku on Tuesday morning also took to the streets, burning tyres to register their displeasure over what they described as “lack of commitment from major stakeholders to resolve the longstanding conflict.”
“Our husbands, children and the future are being killed every day. We are suffering, we cannot go to our farms, our children cannot go to school and our pregnant women cannot access the health facilities. We are tired, we cannot continue like this,” some of the aggrieved women lamented.
“I can tell you that more than 50 people have died since Thursday and killing is continuing,” an eyewitness told the Ghana News Agency.
Mr Hamza Amadu, the Bawku Municipal Chief Executive declined to comment on the issue when contacted by the Ghana News Agency
Meanwhile, apart from deploying of more security personnel to the area, the government, through the Ministry of the Interior has imposed a curfew on the Bawku Township and its environs as part of measures to bring the situation under control.
Unconfirmed data revealed that more than 200 lives have been lost since the conflict resurfaced in November 2021.
GNA
HT/BM
29 Oct 2024
