Ambrose Dery issues warning to Bawku conflict perpetrators

The Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, has issued a stern warning to the perpetrators of the recent conflict in Bawku.

The minister stated that anyone found culpable for the aforementioned conflict will face severe punishment in accordance with the law.

The Nandom Constituency member of parliament said in a JoyNews report that the war is luring terrorists to the region and the government won't wait for the nation to come under attack before taking action to resolve the problem.

“Into the new year, …we will take more serious steps and strategies to make sure that Bawku returns to the peace that it deserves. So that state agencies can operate, hospitals, schools can continue to operate and our children continue to go to school, we have taken note, we have increased numbers as a transitional measure but we’re going to come up with strategies that you will soon see and it would greatly improve and we will get back to more peaceful times.

“I assure all those who want to be violent and the non-conformists who are not law-abiding that, we shall meet them squarely…we are not going to allow a few people to take the peace and security of Bawku and then Ghana at large for granted. We will come after them,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, residents of Bawku are pleading with the government to work assiduously to end the brutalities and bring peace to their communities.

The Ministry of the Interior, in November 2021, imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the Bawku Municipality and its environs in the Upper East Region following renewed chieftaincy disputes in the area.

According to the minister, the imposition of the curfew resulted from the threat of insecurity in the area.

The ministry subsequently placed a total ban on all persons in the aforementioned communities and their environs from carrying arms, ammunition or any offensive weapons.

Before implementing the curfew, REGSEC had banned the wearing of smocks in the area with immediate effect, explaining that “This was necessitated by the fact that criminals or unscrupulous elements hide arms and ammunitions in smocks and attack opponents or innocent civilians.”

AM/DA