The Wa West MP, Peter Lanchene Toobu, has made a strong call for the Bawku conflict to be treated as a national crisis.
He emphasised the need for a more sophisticated, strategic, and impartial approach to peacekeeping and resolution.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, the retired police officer expressed deep concern over the spiraling violence in Bawku, which has recently seen the killing of police officers and continued clashes between feuding factions.
“Let me first of all convey my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and the Ghana Police Service, having lost some men in the field,” he said somberly.
He urged security personnel deployed to the volatile region to exercise the highest level of caution.
“When the risk is high, and Bawku has become a red zone, people in uniform must be extremely careful,” he advised.
“You don’t go anywhere in town alone. You don’t go into town when you’re not in uniform. You don’t go into town when you’re not permitted by your command. It is restrictive for a reason.”
Mr. Peter Toobu, who served for years in the Ghana Police Service, stressed that security officers in Bawku must remain impartial, not neutral.
“The police should not be neutral in Bawku. They should be impartial. Simply put, you are not a friend to any of the feuding parties. You are interested in them coming together and living peacefully,” he stated.
His comments come on the back of rising public concern about the breakdown of law and order in the municipality, where recent reports indicate that one faction has turned their weapons on security forces.
Mr. Peter Toobu described this shift as “very, very dangerous.”
“There shouldn’t be a point where the impartial arbiter, the person in the middle to create a buffer and bring peace, becomes a party to the matter and is being attacked,” he warned.
The MP also pointed to a worrying proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the region.
“It is a big challenge, and we all believe that we need to do something very seriously to prevent it, very particularly in a volatile area like Bawku,” he cautioned.
He added that some may be seeking to radicalise youth or profit from the chaos through illegal arms trade.
To address the escalating crisis, he backed the President’s recent declaration that Bawku is a national priority.
“We have the political will now to do what is needful,” he noted.
“That is why I support the President. He has appointed Otumfuo. The Otumfuo-led mediation team is the one that will have to drive a solution and bring that to bear.”
Peter Lanchene Toobu concluded with a firm call to depoliticise the situation entirely.
“This conflict requires some level of sophistication in handling,” he reiterated. “This is not a party matter. It is a national conflict. And we must treat it that way.”
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