[ 2014-08-20 ]

Gunshots still ring through Bawku township; police intensify patrol
Renewed clashes between Kusasis and Manprusis at
Sakabo in the Upper East Region town of Bawku have
left one person with gunshot wounds.

The incident, which happened near the Bawku
Hospital, created tension in the Bawku township
Tuesday night.

An eye witness told Joy News the police were quick
to step in to forestall any loss of life.

The eyewitness said about ten heavily armed men,
believed to be Kusasis walked into a
“predominantly Mamprusi area and started
shooting indiscriminately”.

“Any human being they see they shoot at him”,
he said but added that there were no casualties.

Security Council in Bawku, in the Upper East
Region, met Tuesday to look into a shooting
incident in the town that left two dead and one in
critical condition on Monday.

The victims, Alhassan Hadi and Tijani Issaka, were
shot in their homes at Patelmeh after evening
prayers.

Assemblyman for the area Imoro Mahamadu who
witnessed the incident said the victims "were
sitting in front of their house when a group of
people started moving towards them. By the time
they realized they started firing...two died
instantly".

Although there is little information about the
perpetrators of Monday's murder, the attacks are
believed to have been triggered by a long standing
chieftaincy dispute between the rival Mamprusis
and Kusasis in the area.

Bawku Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Bukari
Issaku, told Joy News a team of police and
military personnel have intensified patrol in the
area.

Although there have not been any arrests, he said
the Upper East Region Security Council will be
convening a meeting Wednesday on the way forward.

The MCE suspects criminal elements within the
township are scheming “to send Bawku back to its
old days”.

Insisting security forces are in control, he
promised “people who are causing fear and panic
will be brought to book.”

Bawku, one of the brisk commercial towns in the
northern part of the country, has been a hotspot
for series of ethnic clashes since 2000.

Source - MyjoyOnline

... go Back