Stop the highway attacks – Kusaug Youth Movement

The Kusaug Youth Movement in the Upper East Region has expressed surprise over recent attacks on some vehicles travelling from Bawku to southern Ghana after the Samanpiid Festival in 2022. The attacks are said to have happened on the Walewale road in the West Mamprusi Municipality in the North East Region, where one person was killed.

At a press conference in the Bawku Municipality, the youth expressed fear that innocent indigenes of the Kusaug area were losing their lives to some unknown assassins. They recounted that a passenger bus was attacked on the 1st of January, 2023, at Sanyoo, a community close to Walewale in the West Mamprusi District, where one person's life was lost and five others were wounded. Reading the statement, Issahaku Arouk Mohammed said similar attacks were recorded in that same week.

"On Thursday, January 6, 2023, a cargo truck loaded with animals headed for Kumasi from Bawku was attacked in a similar fashion at the centre of Walewale Township during the early hours of the evening. In this unprovoked attack, one person died instantly from gunshot and another person currently nursing bullet-riddled wounds and now at a hospital seeking treatment."

Mr. Mohammed continued, "the third attack happened on January 7, 2023. A KIA bus with registration number AP 262-22 headed for Kumasi was trailed from Bolga township by motor riders, and started shooting at the vehicle at close range around Kukuobila, a suburb of Walewale in the North East Region. Fortunately, no one was wounded."

Therefore, the Kusaug Youth Movement thinks these attacks are linked to the ongoing peace struggle in Bawku. Mr. Mohammed, however, said the attacks on individuals on the road, if not properly investigated, may destabilise the country. He has called on law enforcement agencies to quickly intervene to save lives and property.

"As law-abiding and peace-loving citizens, the youth of Kusaug wish to act swiftly to avert the degeneration of the already volatile security situation in Bawku."

At the time of this press conference, there was stable peace in the Bawku Township, and people were seen going about their normal business.