Army deployed at Zaare as hostilities resume

Armed soldiers from Bawku were on Sunday deployed at Zaare, near Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, to reinforce security, after two factions fighting over rights to farmlands clashed again around mid-day, burning down houses, food banks and inflicting cutlass wounds on one another.

The quarrel was sparked off by an attack on a 22-year old man from the Ayoore Gate by persons suspected to be from the opposing Anokobisi Gate, while he was returning home from church. Eyewitnesses said when information reached members of the Ayoore Gate, they turned out in their numbers to retaliate.

The Regional Minister, Mr Mahami Salifu, accompanied by the Regional Police Commander, Mr Bernard Dery, Regional Fire Officer, Mr Joseph Kandue, and the Bolgatanga District Chief Executive, Mr Rockson Bukari, visited the scene of the fight to ascertain the extent of damage.

In an address to both gates, Mr Salifu expressed regret at the incident and said it was unfortunate, considering the remarkable achievements chalked in bringing peace to other areas in the district. He said the country needed peace in order to develop and warned that people who took the law into their own hands would be made to face the law.

Mr Salifu said chieftaincy and land issues were delicate, adding that such matters could only be resolved through dialogue and consensus building. He urged both sides to exercise restraint and live together "as you have done for centuries."

As part of measures to enforce security, residents have been ordered to remain indoors from 1900 hours till dawn. Members of the Red Cross Society were at hand to offer emergency first-aid to the wounded.