Chief asks Police to purge agents of Kombian in service

Nakpanduri (N/R), Oct 30, GNA - The Chief of Nakpanduri, Naba David Kansuk, has urged the Ghana Police Service to flush out the agents of Johnson Kombian Gulkuun, the fugitive, so that can be arrested because he has informants within service.

He said Gulkuun, which literally means I have accepted death, knew of the police operations two days ahead of the event and wondered who could be feeding such information to the hardened criminal but the police themselves.

Chief Kansuk made the allegations when the Minister of the Interior, Mr Martin Amidu, paid a courtesy call on him, on Friday, to assess the extent of damage caused during the police's operations in the area on Wednesday, October 27. The entourage of the minister, which included the Northern Regional Minister, National Coordinator of NADMO, the Country Director of UNHCR and the Northern Regional Commanders of Police, Prisons, Fire and the Immigration Services, was met at the entrance of the town by a large number of demonstrating youths, who called for peace. The demonstrators numbering hundreds, carried placards some of which read: "Kombian is a friend to the police", "We want peace", Shame to Ghana Police", "Mr. Minister, we are part of Ghana". Chief Kansuk assured the Interior Minister about the readiness of the residents to cooperate fully with the Police but said he was saddened by the action taken by the police on Wednesday, which led to the burning of a lot of property, including foodstuffs. He also appealed to the Interior Minister to consider redeploying Police personnel to Nakpanduri to help maintain the peace, law and order, saying, "We have been left unprotected after the police station in the town was closed down." Mr. Amidu apologized to the chiefs and people of Nakpanduri for the excesses that the Police might have caused, explaining that, the Police were supposed to ensure law and order, including smoking out harden criminals like Johnson Kombian, alias 'burger'. He said the Police might have also acted based on intelligence information and appealed to the residents to help the police weed out such a dangerous individual from their midst. Mr. Amidu assured the people and chiefs of Nakpanduri that as soon as the Police arrest Johnson Kombian Gulkuun the police station would be re-opened. The Minister also went to the Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo to verify reports that some Ghanaians had crossed to Togo to seek refuge because of the March-May chieftaincy disputes in the area. Mr. Amidu said the Togolese Government had taken the advantage of the situation to collect aid from the United Nations, adding that, the Togolese Government at a recent UN meeting, at Geneva, indicated that 3,600 Ghanaians were in that country as refuges while the UNHCR reported 6,000. He said he was able to dispute the claims because the two figures were contradictory.

He stated: "There is no Ghanaian seeking refuge in Togo now because those who went there during the conflicts have returned." Mr. Moses Bukari Mabengba, the Northern Regional Minister, appealed to the people of Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo to live in peace with one another for the development and progress of the nation. He said the people of Kombatiak and Gbankoni were not many as the figures had suggested, claming that, it was a mere exaggeration to tarnish the image of Ghana for political gains. Mr. Mabengba said the two feuding factions had farms across the border of Ghana and Togo, explaining that, they both had relatives in the area and visit them from time to time. The entourage had earlier paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Mamprugu Traditional Area, Nayiri Naa Bohugu Mahami Abdulai at Nalerigu, where the chief was commended for keeping the peace in the area and urged to help in bringing peace to Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo.