At least five residents of Bawku, have been attacked and killed while returning to Bawku from Bolgatanga aboard a mini passenger bus, by unknown gunmen.
Three residents, all men, were said to have been shot and killed near the Bawku Senior High School (SHS) stretch of the Bolgatanga-Bawku road, while two others were killed, following reprisal attacks.
The deceased were identified as Fataw Ibrahim, Ibrahim Abdulai, Bunyaminu Adam, Atindan of Danduri community in Bawku Municipality, and one other from Zongo, near the Bawku police station, yet to be identified
The incident, which occurred on Tuesday at about 2:50 pm, left several passengers seriously injured and are on admission at the Presbyterian Hospital in Bawku, where they had been receiving treatment.
An eyewitness said the minibus with registration number GW 8474-21, which was travelling on the Bolgatanga-Bawku road, was ordered to stop a few metres away from the highway, close to the entrance of the Bawku SHS.
While they (passengers) were disembarking the vehicle upon the request of the attackers, the eyewitness added, the attackers shot the three men, whilst the driver and other passengers suffered gunshot wounds.
The police in Bawku have confirmed the incident to the Ghanaian Times, but refused to make further comments.
The attackers who were armed with rifles and pistols asked the driver to stop and surrender his car, the source said.
A press statement issued by the Mamprugu Youth Association, Bawku Chapter, and copied to the Ghanaian Times, here, condemned the attack.
It accused the security in the region of looking on idly while their kinsmen were terrorised, maimed and killed by some violent criminals, who continued to disrupt the relative peace in Bawku.
The statement recounted that, about five attacks in less than five months along the Zebilla-Bawku stretch of the Bolgatanga-Bawku road had culminated in the death of more than seven people, with others suffering injuries and gunshot wounds.
“In this regard, the simple question that requires answers is, how difficult is it for the relevant authorities and the police to deploy police on this stretch of the road, where innocent citizens in the country have been killed and maimed on countless occasions? ” the association queried.
While calling on the security agencies to work diligently in bringing the perpetrators to book immediately, the group demanded the temporary lorry station and market at the highway be dismantled because they had become a safe haven for criminals.
The bodies of the deceased are deposited at the Presbyterian Hospital in Bawku for autopsy and preservation.
FROM FRANCIS DABRE DABANG, BAWKU