The Anchoring Democracy Advocacy Movement Ghana (ADAM-GH) has called on the Zugaraan Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, the Paramount Chief of Kusaug Traditional Area at Bawku in the Upper East Region, to help restore peace in his area.
The Civil Society Organisation (CSO)’s call is to help ensure that residents “cease fire and build good relationships with the security agencies in order to restore absolute peace in Bawku.”
The call comes off at the back of the incidence that occurred in Bawku last month, where three people died and five others injured, during the exchange of gunfire between soldiers and some residents.
Mr Ibrahim Mumuni, Director of Operations, ADAM-GH at a presser in Accra last Tuesday emphasised that it had been made clear that there was no chieftaincy dispute in Bawku.
As such, he urged residents to “report any criminal action to the security agencies and allow the security agencies to enforce the laws instead of engaging in needless conflicts.”
He also beseeched the Paramount Chief of Kusaug Traditional Area, who is also the President of the Kusaug traditional council, to collaborate with the security agenciesto clamp down on crime in Bawku, to help restore peace in that area.
Mr Mumuni cautioned other CSOs who quickly jumped at discussions on issues without knowing much to be circumspect in dealing with the conflict at Bawku.
“Their actions can be more dangerous than those in the conflict. As CSOs, we must always do our research, seek clarifications and make sure we are well informed before discussing such sensitive issues regarding conflicts,” he added.
He pleaded with the government to compensate families of innocent victims who lost their lives and those who had been hospitalised.
Meanwhile, the Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery, has called on the public and the media not to use social media to inflame passions in the Bawku conflict.
He said the media platforms must be responsible and mindful in their reports because, sometimes the general analysis touched emotions which had the tendency to worsen the situations on the ground.
The Minister stated this in an interview with the Ghanaian Times on the sidelines of a three-day seminar of the West African Police Information System (WAPIS) awareness in Accra last two weeks Tuesday.
Three, a nine-year-old boy, and a 16-year-old girl, and an elderly man were shot dead while two others sustained injuries during exchange of fire.
The soldiers attached to the 11th Mechanised Infantry Battalion based in Bazua, were on an operation to sweep out miscreants in the area when they were reportedly met with resistance, which led to the exchange of gunfire.
Soldiers were reported to have moved to the area to arrest the perpetrators of the sporadic shooting and, in the process, clashed with some of the youth.