Calm returns to Bawku following gunshots
A police armoured tank barricades the main road leading to the headquaters of the Ghanaian Electoral Commission before the commission announced the final results of the presidential and parliamentary elections in Accra on December 10, 2008. The country's security forces said they were stepping up security as part of its post-election plan to keep law and order -- mounting check points along main streets in the capital and increase joint police and military patrols, said police spokesman Kwesi Ofori. AFP PHOTO PIUS UTOMI EKPEI
The Bawku Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Hamza Amadu, said on Thursday, November 25, 2021, that calm has returned to the Bawku township and its surroundings in the Upper East Region following earlier gunshot incidents that sparked concerns of insecurity in the area.
He revealed that gunshots were heard early Tuesday evening, prompting the Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) and the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to beef up security in the town.
Mr Amadu as cited by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) stated that while some residents were afraid, the township was largely peaceful and people were going about their daily business with caution.
Security personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service have increased visibility in the area, according to Mr Amadu and the public has been warned not to take the law into their own hands.
According to Mr Amadu “The law will deal with anyone who tries to disrupt the peace in the area. We as politicians will not interfere in the work of the security agencies, and so if you misbehave and you are caught, there wouldn’t be any mercy, the law will deal with you”.
On the advice of the REGSEC, the Minister of the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery has ordered a curfew from 4 pm to 6 am, which took effect on Wednesday, November 24, 2021.
Meanwhile, a ban has also been placed on the wearing of smocks in Bawku and its environs, this is because according to the advice from REGSEC, “criminals or unscrupulous persons hide weaponry and ammunition in smocks and attack opponents or innocent civilians.”
Bawku, one of the busiest towns in the Upper East Region has been marred by decades-old conflict between the Mamprusi and Kusasi over chieftaincy. The first instance was in 1982 and since then there have been others such as in 2000 and 2007 which ended only in 2013. The recent incident, according to reports was not targeted at any person or group but has now become another black spot in the busy town.
Source: Richard Mensah Adonu | Join our Telegram Group
