Woman burnt to death in Bawku....security committee bans night use of motorbikes(D/G Monday, January 26, 2009)

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bawku
A young woman in her mid-twenties was last Friday night burnt to death by some unidentified persons at Bawku in the Upper East Region.
The victim, identified as Fatima Issahaku who was carrying a four months old pregnancy also had her house and other properties burnt. Her husband, Mohammed Majid who is believed to be the main target, was spared miraculously as he was said to have stepped out of the house to buy some groceries.
A source at Bawku who narrated the incidence to the Daily Graphic last Saturday said the incidence occurred at about 10 pm on Friday night.
According to the source a group of young persons, riding on motor bikes, storm the residence of the victim to carry out the act. The mob allegedly doused a window with petrol and lighted a match which set the entire structure ablaze. Madam Issahaku was said to have been trapped to death by the razing fire.
According to the source, Majid who had just finished watching a movie with his wife stepped out briefly to purchase something.
“Whist outside, Majid received a distress call from his brother, one Ibrahim Lawal that his house was on fire. While rushing to go home, he saw six people riding a motor bike (two on each) speeding off from the scene of the event,” the source said.
According to the source, Majid identified the people as the same group of persons that allegedly threatened his life him last Tuesday, January 13, whilst on his way from Cinkasse, a trading town in Togo.
Unconfirmed reports in Bawku has it that the victim’s husband, had earlier on lodged a complaint with the police in Bawku about the threats on his life, but that complaint allegedly was not taken seriously.
A visit to Bawku last Saturday revealed that 7 other houses are reported to have also been torched in the Bawku Municipality under bizarre circumstances.
When contacted, the Bawku District Police Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP Cashman Blewushie, declined to comment.
“I can not offer you any interview now because I am yet to brief my Regional Commander,” he said.
The Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (DCOP), Alhaji Hamidu Mahama, who was in Bawku on Saturday, when contacted also deferred comments on the incident till Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Security Committee, (MUSEC), has issued a ban on the riding of motor bikes in the Bawku municipality from 6 pm to 6 am daily until further notice. The decision was arrived at after an emergency meeting last Saturday was conveyed residents of Bawku by personnel of the Information Services Department.
Bawku has for a greater part of last year, been under a curfew following tribal conflicts in that part of the country. Military and Police personnel have also been deplored in the town to maintain the peace.
Just last week, The President’s representative responsible for the Ministry of the Interior has renewed the curfew imposed on Bawku Municipality and its immediate environs for another week with effect from Monday, January 12.
A statement signed by Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, the President’s representative, said the action was on the advice of the Upper East Regional Security Council, (REGSEC).
The curfew hours remain unchanged at midnight to 4am. The statement amongst others expressed hope that the people would continue to live in peace to ensure a rapid socio-economic development of the area only to be dealt with this latest blow which many fear could derail the peace efforts.