SIX more people have been shot dead in the on-going Bawku chieftaincy conflict in the Upper East Region at the weekend, bringing the death toll to 30 after 11 days of sustained targeted and sporadic shooting.
A driver, who was transporting students on a mini bus to the Kongo Senior High School (SHS) in the Nabdam District from Cinkassey, in neighbouring Togo, was attacked close to the entrance of the Bawku SHS.
The gunmen allegedly shot the driver to death,and set the corpse and the vehicle with registration number UE 40-20 ablaze.
A police source disclosed the story to the Ghanaian Times in Bawku, in an exclusive interview, that he had to escort the traumatised school children back to Widana after the ghastly incident.
According to the police, two businessmen, who were travelling on the Bawku-Cinkassey road were escorted by the military half way through the danger zone.
However, the businessmen were latter accosted, attacked and killed by gunmen around Kulungungu in the Pusiga District the same day.
The police source further told the Ghanaian Times that two people were killed at Daduri, a community within the Bawku Township, and a young woman believed to be in her early 20s, was also caught in crossfire and killed instantly.
The police source told this reporter that the conflict had escalated into a full blown war, and called on government to double efforts in bringing the impasse to a halt.
Meanwhile, a man wielding AK 47 riffle, attempting to attack some residents of Bawku had been arrested by the Military at Daduri in the Bawku Municipal at about 4 pm, Sunday, according to the source.
He had since been handed over to the Upper East Regional Police command for further investigations.
Last month, renewed chieftaincy clash in Bawku of the Upper East has left at least 20 people dead while other victims suffered serious gunshot wounds.
Two were shot dead at their Zongo residence in the township at about 12:00 am at dawn yesterday, while eight met their untimely demise after assailants attacked them in Bawku Township in the afternoon of Sunday.
Similarly, three young men, believed to be in their late 20s and early 30s, who were onboard a mini vehicle, were accosted on the route close to the Bawku Technical Institute (Bawku Tech), and were shot multiple times, leading to their instant death.
A reprisal attack from an angry youth also mobilised and attacked houses in about four communities, resulting in seven additional deaths.
This has brought the death toll to 20 within three days of violence and reprisal attacks in Bawku.
An eyewitness, who disclosed this to the Ghanaian Times, said the bodies of the demised had been taken by their families, as the injured victims had also been taken to the Presbyterian Hospital in Bawku, Bolgatanga Regional hospital, and other health centres in and outside the conflict area.
FROM FRANCIS DABRE DABANG, BAWKU