Police, GES refuse to let Konkomba, Bimoba students flee Chereponi

Konkomba and Bimoba students of Chereponi Senior High Technical School on Wednesday dawn besieged the District Police Station demanding to be allowed to flee the troubled Chereponi town to their homes, claiming they do not feel safe in the wake of renewed ethnic conflict in the area

The decades old ethnic conflict between the Chokosis and Konkombas over a parcel of land was triggered last weekend with series of shooting and burning of houses, leaving more than 1800 residents displaced.

A lot of the displaced, mostly women and children, have since the weekend been fleeing the conflict zone as the situation in the North East town deteriorates by the day.

In the midst of apparent insecurity in the area, the Konkomba and Bimoba students who feel threatened by the Chokosis, stormed the Chereponi Police Station to demand to be allowed to leave the town.

The Police have turned down the request, indicating what the students were asking for was against the security advice given on Tuesday.

Northern Regional Police PRO, DSP Mohammed Yussif Tanko, told 3news.com Wednesday that the District Security Council concluded in a meeting Tuesday that the students be kept on campus and security and given improved security.

“This is against the advice of security; that is DISEC and also Ghana Education Service which decision was arrived at a meeting yesterday [Tuesday] that was held at Chereponi,” DSP Tanko said.

The students have been “assured of total security” by the joint police/military team, hence they “should stay at the school to learn,” DSP Yussif Tanko said.

He said the students and administrators of the school have been assured their security will be beefed up on campus to they have the “necessary security environment to operate”.

Despite the assurances from the Police, checks by 3news.com revealed the students are still at the Chereponi District Police station.

According to the students, some residents frequently pass through the school campus brandishing guns, but the Police say they cannot independently verify that claim.

Twenty-two houses have been torched in the renewed conflict and three persons confirmed dead, while eight persons have been arrested.

A police/military team has seized six single-barrel guns as well as a locally manufactured gun.

The police say they have placed the displaced children and women in “safe places” and have deployed personnel into the interior to respond more to distress calls that are received by the military.