Bawku - MUSEC pledges GH¢3,000. for information on weapons

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga The Bawku Municipal Security Council, (MUSEC) in the Upper East Region have warned they will take a tougher actions against persons found to be disturbing the relative peace prevailing in the area. The warming comes at the heels of recent a spate of pockets of violence that has rocked the Bawku municipality. One person was shot dead on Monday night while another three sustained injuries after parts of the municipality came under sporadic gunshots. Speaking to the Daily Graphic after members of the MUSEC held an emergency meeting in the wake of the recent clashes, the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Musah Abdulai condemned the emerging violence in the municipality but was quick to add that the trend has no links with ethnicity. “The problems in Bawku as we have recorded in recent times are purely criminal and not related to the ethnicity,” he insisted. He added that ‘what we need to do sensitise our people to know that the recent spate of violence is an action of criminals who what to take advantage of the prevailing peace of the area to create confusion”. Mr. Abdulai said analysing the trend in the area, it appears some people are unhappy at the prevailing peace to the extent that they will want to destabilize the relative peace in the area and therefore appealed to the public to cooperate with the security agencies to weed such people out of the system. He said when there is conflicts in Bawku, there are a group of people who go round soliciting funds for the purchase arms and ammunition, to the extent that when there is peace, such people are out of business and will also what to create confusion in town. Again, he said conflict leads to imposition of curfew during which period people go about looting so for such people, peace seems unattractive. “We need to bring all the people in Bawku together and work hand in hand to weed out such miscreants from our midst,” the MCE said. On some short term measures taken, Mr. Abdulai said the assembly has decided as a matter of urgency to install street lights on some stretches of road in the municipality to increase illumination at night to curtail such violent attacks. He said the MUSEC meeting also realised that some communities have no access roads and that a decision has been taken for the construction of those vital roads linking communities in municipality to facilitate easy patrols by the security agencies. Mr Abdulai said the assembly has instituted a programme to reward any individual who furnishes the security agencies with information leading to the arrest or conviction of persons in possession of weapons adding that an amount of GH c 3,000 will be given to such individual who provides information. -End- Writer’s email: Benjamin.glover@graphic.com.gh