Bawku warring factions unwilling to surrender arms

Security agencies deployed to keep the peace at Bawku following inter communal clashes there are having a hard time disarming the warring factions. The people are neither willing to surrender the arms nor volunteer any relevant information.

"If they do, it is wrong information," a GNA story quotes a security source saying on Friday. The source said the security agencies had for the past two days cordoned-off and searched a number of suspected places but this did not yield any results.

They dug some sites following reports by some citizens but these turned out to be old graves. Though the situation in Bawku was calm the source said the conflict could ignite again if the military cum police detachment was withdrawn, because the ill-equipped Bawku Police alone could not subdue the warring factions.

In another development the dusk to dawn curfew imposed on the township was reported to be taking a toll on the Muslim community. Alhaji Mohammed Inusah, Imam of a local mosque said Muslims could no longer congregate for the early morning (Subhi), early evening (Maghrib) and late evening (Insha) prayers.

Alhaji Inusah said a special prayers at mid-night on the last ten days of fasting could not be observed as a result of the curfew. Muslims, who broke their fast in-groups, now had to do so individually in their homes.

Meanwhile, the sixteen victims of the crisis, who were airlifted to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital are said to be doing well.

"Instead of our 24 to 48 hours care, theirs is continuous. They are getting all the attention needed, no cash down," Mrs. Eleanor Odeamah, Principal Nursing Officer of the Accident Section of the hospital told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra on Saturday.

She said the hospital authorities have instructed the units providing treatment not to demand deposits, unless otherwise stated, although the treatment is very expensive.

Mrs. Odeamah said two of them were suffering from neurosis, a result of bullets in the brain, whilst some also received bullets in their livers.