Give serial killings in Wa a national attention – Native to government

Isaac Bafiina, immediate past Wa Central Constituency Communications Officer of the New Patriotic Party, has called on the government to consider the killings of private night security men in Wa a national security threat and treat them with the necessary attention.

In 2022, the Upper West Regional capital was plagued with a series of mysterious abductions and killings of private night security men, known as “watchmen,” with over ten reported cases and instances where some victims managed to escape their assailants.

The killings, allegedly ritualistic, targeted the watchmen who met their unfortunate deaths with reports of missing body parts while on duty at night.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), George Akuffo Dampare, visited the region to investigate the issue and provide swift solutions.

However, on the night of his arrival, another incident occurred, which helped forestall the activities of the nefarious elements behind the tragic killings.

Earlier in 2024, instances of the mysterious killings were reported to have been rampant in Bole in the neighboring Savannah Region, where security details were beefed up in the area when the matter was brought to the fore.

On June 18, 2024, just after security had been boosted at Bole, two private night watchmen were murdered in a similar manner while at their posts on the same night at different but relatively the same enclaves in Wa, an incident that sparked fear among residents.

Speaking on GBC’s Real-Time, monitored by Info Radio, on the resurgence of the killings, Mr. Bafiina, personal assistant to the former Upper West Regional Minister, said residents have been thrown into a state of fear, panic, and a sense of insecurity as no one knows who the next victim and target of the killings could be.

“Nobody feels safe... and once they are done with the private security people, they would come into our houses and kill us one after the other,” he lamented.

He said it was high time the government and its security machinery accorded the situation national attention and brought finality to it.

“It is unfortunate and scary that our region has now become the hub for harvesting human parts, and I think that it is high time the leadership, from the President to the Ministry of the Interior and the IGP, considered this as a national issue.

“This is an attack on the region and the nation by extension. You cannot imagine that this is happening to your own citizens. The first objective of leadership is the protection of your subjects,” he appealed.

While appreciating the efforts made by authorities to stem the issue at its peak in 2022, he expressed disappointment that the measures taken at the time could not be sustained and have led to the resurrection of the issue.

He observed that the failure of the Ghana Police Service to make public the findings of its investigation into the matter, coupled with its inability to make a prosecution in line with the issue, has further emboldened the perpetrators to continue their infamous acts.

“The IGP came himself with his team to conduct investigations; to date, the people of the Upper West Region have not been told the outcome of the investigations that were conducted, and the issue has resurfaced.

“Once no single person has been successfully prosecuted in line with what has happened, this has emboldened these criminals, these barbarians, to think that they can continue with what they are doing and get away with it freely,” he said.

Mr. Bafiina also called on the traditional leadership, particularly the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs, the Speaker of Parliament, and other illustrious sons and daughters of the region, to take cogent steps at curtailing the barbaric act that has engulfed the land.

He appealed to the government to offer a compensation package to the families of the victims of the gruesome killings to support their children, wives, and dependents to keep life afloat.

“These are people who were probably breadwinners for their families. Today, they are no more; they have children, they have wives; what happens to them?” he quizzed.

Mr. Bafiina urged the residents of Wa to volunteer relevant information to the Ghana Police Service to assist in clamping down on the activities of the assailants.

Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for Wa Central, Dr. Hassan Rashid Pelpuo, has offered a GH₵100,000 bounty for anyone who provides relevant information for the arrest of the people responsible for the recent killings.

Announcing the bounty at a press briefing in Wa, the MP expressed concern over the prolonged silence of the police on its investigation into the matter, almost two years down the line.