GUNS BOOM IN BAWKU AGAIN ( NOV 3, Front Page)

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover & Alhandu Abdul-Hamid, Bawku
ECHOES of sporadic gunshots, as well as an eerie sense of uncertainty, were heard in Bawku late into the night yesterday after the latest outbreak of conflict in the municipality on Sunday. At least three people are reported killed, with several others injured, in the latest upsurge in the conflict, while shops and government offices remained closed as members of the Upper East Regional Security Council (REGSEC) moved to strategic points to assess the nature of unrest. Two of the three persons so far killed were burnt to ashes at the Bawku suburb of Zabugu.At a critical time during the REGSEC’s tour of the hot spots, the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, who is also the Chairman of the REGSEC, was one of those who had to lie flat on the ground to escape the volley of bullets flying over. Twenty-nine people have so far been picked for screening in connection with the violence.Other members of the security delegation were the Chief Director of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), Mr Samuel N’lary; the acting Regional Prisons Commander, Mr Cletus Asaana; the Regional Chief Fire Officer, Mr Wuni Azomyana, and the Regional Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service, Mr Peter Defie.At the time of filing this report, the streets of the municipality were completely deserted and gunshots were still ramming through the air, especially at the suburb of Daduri.Residents had been forced indoors, some without food and water, from 7 p.m. on Sunday when the latest round of shooting erupted, the cause of which is yet to be ascertained.A curfew imposed by the Ministry of the Interior, effective 2 p.m. yesterday to 6 a.m. today, was also in force. A statement from the Ministry of Information announcing the curfew said it was due to the renewed violence that had erupted in Bawku on Sunday night.The statement announcing the curfew, which was signed by the Minister for Information, Mrs Zita Okaikoi, explained that the imposition of the curfew was in consultation with and on the recommendation of the Upper East REGSEC. It said the curfew was meant to protect lives and property in the area and also enable the security agencies to deploy more troops on the ground to enhance security operations in Bawku. It noted that the curfew period would be subject to review based on the situation in the area when it expired today. Media personnel accompanying the REGSEC team were holed up at the offices of the Municipal Police Station where a press conference was hurriedly organised to update the media on events.Briefing the media after a lengthy in-camera deliberation, Mr Woyongo said two of the three dead persons had been burnt to ashes at Zabugu, while the third died through a gunshot. Others whose names he gave as Mubarak Hamidu and Yussif Ziblim sustained injuries and were on admission at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital.According to Mr Woyongo, after the consultations, it was recommended that a state of emergency be declared in Bawku to help curtail the rampant shooting