Nkwanta conflict: We want peace to prevail – Akyode Youth Association

The Accra-Tema branch of the Akyode Youth Association has said the people of Akyode are committed to a peaceful resolution of the repeated communal clashes at Nkwanta in the Oti Region.

Eight persons were confirmed dead while others, including a police officer, were injured in shootings at the Nkwanta Central Market in the Nkwanta South Municipality on Monday, November 21, 2023.

The clash has been linked to long-standing conflicts involving the Adele, Challah and Akyode tribes over land ownership.

Addressing a news conference in Accra on Thursday, the Association said it was concerned about the impact of the conflicts on education, health, and economic activities in Nkwanta and thus called for peace to prevail.

Mr Akwasi Adu, Executive Member of the Association, told journalists that six of its people perished from Monday’s shootings.

He appealed to the police to expedite efforts to bring the perpetrators to book to deliver justice to the families of the persons killed.

“We the Akyodes, a stock of the Guan tribes in Ghana, want peace to prevail at Nkwanta. But it is our firm conviction that peace and justice are inseparable elements in every democratic environment.

“We ask for justice for the victims of these violent attacks and killings for peace to reign in Nkwanta, to which we are committed,” Mr Adu said.

A recent attempt by the Akyodes to celebrate the traditional yam festival (Gyogyibele) at the Nkwanta Junior High School is believed to have kick-started the conflict.

Some persons who were shot during the incident sustained serious injuries; the Ghana News Agency gathered.

To restore calm in the Nkwanta municipality, The Minister of Interior, acting on the advice of the Oti Regional Security Council and by the Executive Instrument, imposed curfew on Nkwanta Township in the Oti Region from 1700 hours to 0600 hours on Tuesday, November 21, 2023.

The government also banned all persons in Nkwanta Township and its environs from carrying arms, ammunition or any offensive weapons and cautioned that any persons found with any arms or ammunition would be arrested and prosecuted.

Mr Adu said the curfew and the deployment of police and military officers to Nkwanta had brought some relief to the residents.

“Nkwanta has become almost a ghost town. People are unable to go to their farms to fetch food. People are terrified and live in fear of the unknown,” he said.