GAF HAS NOT DONE ANY KILLING AT BAWKU

The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has flatly denied allegations that soldiers deployed on Operation Gongong to restore calm in the Bawku area, are killing innocent Kusasi youth and women in their homes and communities.

The army has denied allegations being made by some individuals in Bawku that it is engaged in the killing of innocent Kusasin youth, and also that the military personnel has seized Zoogin, a Kusasi community. 

“GAF wishes to categorically state that these allegations are false and unfounded,” the army said in a statement yesterday. 

GAF stated that information received from the National Investigations Bureau by the Operation Gongong Team of GAF early this week indicates that passengers on board a yellow KIA Grand Bird Bus with Registration Number AS 3672-21 traveling from Accra to Missiga were attacked by unknown gunmen around Kpawelga on the Bawku Highways. The gunmen fired through the tire and engine compartment of the vehicle. The bus is currently packed at Asylum Down, Bawku Divisional Police Station for the investigation to be conducted. 

The army stated that again, a KIA Rhino truck with registration number AS 7093-17 was hit, and the driver of the truck, Alhassan Abdella aged 40, from the Gonja tribe, sustained a gunshot wound on the left foot. He is currently receiving treatment at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital. 

Again, on Wednesday 1 February 2023, gunshots were heard around South Natinga in Bawku. A Patrol Team rushed to the general area of the shooting where a suspect, Abdul Malik Haruna, aged 35 from the Mamprusi tribe was arrested. He has since been handed over to the Bawku Police for further investigation. 

The army also placed on record that based on a tip-off by the Bawku Police on the hideout of the suspects alleged to be involved in the firing incident at Bawku, troops conducted cordon and search operations together with Bawku Police at Pateleme General Area. “Three suspects, Fatau Alhassan Binda, aged 42, Abubakar Iddrisu, aged 44, and Alhassan Mustapha Binda, aged 33, all from the Dagomba tribe were arrested in a house at Pateleme. They were handed over to the Bawku Police for further investigations. 

“In a separate incident, sporadic firing was heard around Sabongari General Area. A Patrol Team dispatched to assess the situation spotted unknown armed men at the Gozesi-Valley side in Sabongari wearing black T-shirts with Black Hoodies. Troops engaged them and neutralized six (6) armed men. During the engagement, some armed men took cover in a mud house within the immediate vicinity to engage the Team. One of the armed men attempted to attack troops with a cutlass but was disarmed in the process. During the operation. a local woman found with a gunshot injury on her left hand was sent to Bawku Presbyterian Hospital by troops for treatment,” the army stated. 

It noted that following these incidents and the false allegations making the rounds, it has become necessary for GAF to disclose these outcomes to dispel false information and the wrong notion that a particular group is being targeted by troops in Bawku.  

“The Ghana Armed Forces therefore once again wishes to assure the general public of its commitment to protecting the citizenry at all times. It is therefore soliciting the support of all peace-loving Ghanaians especially indigenes of Bawku to facilitate the process of bringing normalcy to the area and also to aid GAF in de-escalating tension in the interest of the needed peace and security for the socio-economic development of Bawku and the nation as a whole,” concluded a statement signed by the Director Public Relations.