A security analyst, Adib Saani, has lamented the deteriorating state of security at Bawku in the Upper East Region, indicating that the town, although damaged is not irreparable.
According to him, the growing incidence of violence in Bawku is a worrying phenomenon, particularly with the recent killing of an immigration officer in Bawku and the injuring of two others.
He indicated that due to the distrust feuding factions – Mamprusis and Kusasis have in the security institutions in the country, especially in resolving the death of their members, the place has become a consistent cycle of “violence, counterviolence and reprisals” because they cannot trust the police to investigate.
Owing to this, Mr Saani stated that there are so many parts of the area where even the military don’t go unless it is full operation.
“So, it is safe to say that Bawku is damaged but it’s not unrepairable – just that we need commitment.”
Adib Saani
Mr Saani revealed that the growing number of social media pages where these perpetrators of heinous crimes in the region spread information and images of victims they want dead are widespread. With this, he noted that no government in the history of Ghana has invested so much in the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure to address these lapses.
For the first time in history, the security analyst stated that government had at a point a cybersecurity advisor to the President and now has a Cybersecurity Authority, legislations and structures to help tackle such hate posts on these pages which serves as intel to attack people. However, he expressed that it makes him wonder why these persons are not being tracked in spite of government having the capacity to do so.
“The issue of social media has come up in the past. I follow all those pages, those belonging to the Mamprusis and those belonging to Kusasis. Sometimes the perpetrators even warn us before it happens… So, they are there on social media spreading hate and nobody is doing anything about it and the place has almost become lawless…”
Adib Saani
Intelligence gone wrong in shooting of immigration officers
Commenting on the shooting of these immigration officers, Mr Saani stated that his initial observations was “intelligence gone wrong”. He explained that it is likely these immigration officers were not deliberately targeted, but the suspects thought they were people they were looking for.
The security analyst further elaborated that “the intel gone wrong is in relation to specificity to the sides and not state intel because the Mamprusis and Kusasis share intel amongs themselves and various combatant units, whereby they are fed information before they stage the attack.
To this end, he noted that the information the suspects were given with respect to a blue vehicle turned out to be persons who had nothing to do with the conflict.
“Because the factions have people at lorry parks, hinterlands, entry and exit points. They go for example to the lorry park and if you are wanted and you’re about to board a vehicle to Bawku or leave Bawku, then they call their comrades and when you get to a certain point, they might just stop you, bring you out and execute you, or they might just fire at the vehicle and that is what has been happening for some time now.”
Adib Saani
The attack on the immigration officers, Mr Saani revealed, gives a new perspective on the Bawku conflict. He indicated that lately, there’s been a consistent pattern in which those getting killed are neither Mamprusi or Kusasi, as “more neutrals to the Bawku conflict are getting neutralized”.
“The day the immigration officers were shot at, a Fulani man in his ‘Mahama camboo’ was also killed, unfortunately. Meanwhile, he is a Fulani and he has nothing to do with the conflict and that is what we are seeing with this Bawku issue… It brings to bear two major issues that we need to pay attention to – the possibility that the violence will spread and also widen in scope with more tribes coming in… “
Adib Saani
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