Four persons are now reported dead as a result of communal violence that broke out in the Chereponi District of the Northern Region.
This comes after the residents protested against a curfew imposed on the town by the Interior Ministry to curtail the situation.
It has been five days since chaos enveloped the town resulting in the loss of lives and destruction of several homes and other properties.
[contextly_sidebar id=”XVT93ljkc5D6YiA7dSM8nMXHf2fsiOeE”]The District Chief Executive for Chereponi, Tahidu Razak, said in a Citi News interview that “for the casualties, what I know is that they are four.”
Government has deployed more security personnel to forestall calm in the town.
According to the DCE, security personnel are being flown into the town with the help of a helicopter. He said currently 45 personnel have been brought in, adding that three more batches are expected.
“Today, the situation is better. We have not heard anything this morning. But I can confirm to you that a helicopter has brought 45 military personnel and has gone back to bring more. The helicopter will be going three times and I believe the situation will get better.”
“The first batch has been dispatched to the area to ensure peace. We earlier had reports of people grouping at some communities to launch an attack on some more communities, but the security have been dispatched to those areas,” he added.
Fear grips nurses, midwives in Chereponi
Already, health workers in the area are threatening to abandon their post for fear of their lives.
The Ibrahim Mumuni Nasah, the General Secretary of Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, Chereponi branch, told Citi News that they no longer feel safe in the town.
They have however appealed to their superiors and security officials to evacuate them from the town until calm is restored.
“We are saying that the current situation there does not make us feel safe to work. We’ve seen that the people in the community have evacuated their relatives. They have taken their wives and children out of the place. We can’t stay in our homes because we are staying in rented homes that belong to both factions in the conflict.”
“And when this conflict started they have been burning each other’s houses, and we don’t know when they will get to our houses. So we are saying that our managers and security should support us to leave the district and we will return when the place is calm for us to work without being in fear,” he added.
Residents angry with Nitiwul
In a related development, some residents of Chereponi have expressed disappointment in Defense Minister; Dominic Nitiwul’s handling of the situation, and have called for his removal.
A resident, Lukman in a Citi News interview said the president must act with urgency.
“We are calling on the president to as a matter of urgency remove the Defense Minister Dominic Nitiwul. If the intelligence of His Excellency the president is on the grounds, the President should have been told that the Defense Minister’s tribe, the Konkombas have fought all the ethnic groups in the North and he (Dominic Nitiwul) shouldn’t have been the Defense Minister.”
“We believe that he is behind his people. Why, for the past four days people are killed, properties destroyed and nothing is being done. Nitiwul hasn’t come to Chereponi to see, but he on the eve of the day the fight broke, was in Saboba. The president should call him to answer and he must be removed from the post,” he said.
Chereponi residents defy curfew; burn tyres in protest
The residents on Friday defied the curfew slapped on the area by the Ministry of Interior.
They burnt tyres at vantage points in protest of the curfew.
According to them, they fear attacks could happen during the curfew period hence their anger.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey & Mohammed Aminu M. Alabira | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
