Ambrose Dery, Minister for the Interior
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 in the Upper East Region.
He said the media platforms must be responsible and mindful in their reports because sometimes the general analysis touched emotions that had the tendency to worsen the situations on the ground.
The call comes off the back of the incident that occurred in Bawku two weeks ago, where three people died and five others injured, during the exchange of gunfire between soldiers and some residents.
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 yesterday.
He said that the security personnel in Bawku were in control of the situation, stressing “they were in full control of their territory and borders and there was no chance to allow people come in.”
Mr Dery explained that the Bawku trouble started as a chieftaincy issue, but criminal activities had also emerged and were worsening the situation.
“There is a concerted effort, members of parliament in the Bawku area were speaking to the constituent and having meetings with the peace council and civil society organizations,” he said.
“We don’t want to be in control of the raid we want the people to leave their life normally,” he added.
Mr Dery said Bawku had been a hotspot for a while now and there were a few challenges they faced.
“One of the challenges we are facing is that there appears to be a lot of arms in that area but we are working on that.”
He further lauded the security agencies for their good work and encouraged them to continue doing their best.
“The security is doing so well especially leaving their homes to stay in such areas for months to calm matters,” he said.
The Ghanaian Times gathered that three, a nine-year-old boy, and a 16-year-old girl, and an elderly man whose identities were known were shot dead while two others sustained injuries during the 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.
