Security Analyst, Adib Saani, has revealed that gangs in some communities in the country are a nursery for political vigilantism.

According to him some are recruited to participate in robbery activities, extortion and act as debt collectors. Mr Saani explained that these gangs are recommended from outside the Zongos where they are tasked to perform various activities for other people.

He explained that the recent clash between youth gangs from Nima and Maamobi has brought an opportunity for the issue of gangsterism within the Zongos to be examined and addressed. The security analyst indicated that the clash which unfolded in the community could have been averted if it had been identified earlier.

“They’re a nursery for political vigilantism. So, when politicians need to go the ‘bugabuga’ way, the most convenient place to go is the Zongos and there are boys who are ready to die for 20 cedis. Some are used for land disputes. If you have a dispute over a land, instead of going through the process which will be in court for years unending they come to seek the services of these guys. And of course some also sell drugs, from the information I’ve gathered on the ground”.
Adib Saani

The issue, Mr Saani noted, that based on his findings on the grounds, points to the fact that it’s been “simmering” for some time now. He intimated that there have been efforts to “mend the tie” between these two groups but unfortunately not much was done about it and it kept simmering “under the radar” with nobody paying attention to it until it blew up.

“So, I think that if we had accorded the issue with the seriousness it deserves we would have perhaps had enhanced intelligence on the ground and that could have helped us prevent it in the first place”.
Adib Saani

Increase of gang groups in communities

The security analyst emphasized that following some personal investigation into the matter after the clash, he has been able to identify about nine gangs operating in the Nima-Maamobi area.

The Kumordzi group, he highlighted, is very well known and according to the police is led by one Ibrahim Osei, followed by the Bombo led by one Ali Awudu.

“There are other groups including Mataata, Flash point areas, and then we have Down site, then World Bank on Kanda Highway. Another group is called Abenase; another group is called Gyatah; then we have the Monga who are from Maamobi. And these groups have been in existence for some time now”.
Adib Saani

On his part, spokesperson of the National Chief Imam Sheikh Nuhu Sharubutu, Sheikh Armiyao Shaibu, described the recent clash between gangs from the Nima-Mamobi areas as contradictory to the teachings of Islam.

He revealed that on seeing footage of the clash, the “sight was one that evoked shock”, disappointment, worry and anxiety. Sheikh Shaibu noted that what took place was a needless kind of development.

Commenting on the people involved in the clash, he expressed that they failed to exercise Muslim values “and all those things are things that Islam upholds”.

“And my disappointment more is in an area where it’s clearly a Muslim dominated area, so one will expect the refinement that the teachings of Islam bring to human life”.
Sheikh Armiyao Shaibu