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Dissah, Ghana – The Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) led by its Chairman, Salifu Saeed, has issued a direct warning to faceless conflict profiteers to stay off the region with their arms trade otherwise they will face the full rigours of the law if they are caught.
He observed that, whenever there was violent conflict in any part of the region, some residents or people who lived outside the particular conflict zone, often attempt to stockpile arms and ammunitions for the disputing factions to unleash mayhem on one another.
Addressing a gathering of victims of the recent Gonja-Tampulma violent conflict at Dissah in the North Gonja District of the Northern Region of Ghana, Mr Saeed warned that neither the REGSEC nor the government would countenance any act of arms stockpiling by civilians.
“One very important appeal I want to send to everybody in the Tampulma area and the Gonjaland Traditional Area and the entire Northern Region is that, whenever there’s a conflict of this nature, that is very violent, that leads to destruction of lives and property, these are times that some people will want to capitalise on and start stockpiling arms and ammunitions….to sell to people who are living here or outside there for you people to fight.
“We will not allow any person or group of persons to mobilise arms and ammunitions to come and fight you or fight any group of people within the Northern Region. So I want to send this clear warning from the standpoint of the NRCC as well as the REGSEC”, Mr Saeed stated.
A recent chieftaincy clash between the Gonjas and Tampulmas at Dissah and Salugu communities in the North Gonja District, led to the death of two men.
Nearly hundred houses, largely with thatched roofs in both communities predominantly inhabited by Tampulmas were torched, displacing about 5000 inhabitants.
Dozens of women and their children slept in the wilderness for three days before eventually relocating to Lingbinsi, a nearby community upon the intervention of security agencies.
According to the REGSEC, five AK47 assault rifles and several cartridges of ammunitions were retrieved from the crime scene.
Calm has since returned to the two communities and the affected victims have started rebuilding their houses and salvaging personal effects that were not lost in the fire.
About 95 percent of their personal belongings including clothes, food reserves from the last farming season, business ventures and animals and among others, were completely burned by their attackers the Gonjas, the REGSEC has established.
On Wednesday (yesterday), the Northern Regional Minister who is also Chairman of REGSEC led a delegation to present some relief items to the victims of the two communities.
The items include 150 bags of rice (5grams), 22 boxes of cooking oil, mosquito nets and repellents, 200 plastic buckets, 200 plastic cups, 200 plastic plates, 100 bags of cement, 20 packs of corrugated roofing sheets, 10 bales of used clothes and 150 pieces of students’ mattresses.
Mr Salifu Saeed urged the victims of the conflict to make do with the items while steps were taken by the Northern Regional Coordinating Council to find a medium and long term solution to their problems.
Meanwhile, Falli, a father of two, who lost all his personal belongings to the conflict including 10 bags of rice, 10 bags of maize and his house, said even though he felt saddened by the unfortunate event, he and his kinsmen had forgiven the Gonjas.
His only wish, he told Savannahnews in an interview, was to have absolute peace between the Tampulmas and the Gonjas, the major ethnic group in the area and custodians of the Tampulma occupied areas.
By Savannahnews
