Three people have been shot dead at Bunkprugu in the Northern Region following a renewed chieftaincy clash in the area. Two of deceased persons have been identified by the police as Dupak Lapak, 58, a farmer and Bawa Chanleep, 20, a tailor. The third person is yet to be identified. A total of 35 houses have also been reported burnt. Two AK 47 assault rifles have been retrieved by the police.
The Northern Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Ken Yeboah confirmed the shooting of the deceased persons. Information however gathered by this paper indicated that the shooting was a retaliation to an incident which occurred on Tuesday, January 26, 2016 in which some houses were burnt down.
The renewed clash which is believed to be between the two royal families in the area, the Jamond and Jafok, did not only lead to the killing of the two but also the burning of many houses. Several people are also said to be injured. Wednesday night’s sporadic gun exchanges between the two feuding factions is said to have kept people indoors for fear of being hit by a stray bullet. The situation has also affected general activities in the town including schools which have been closed. DCOP Yeboah said the situation has been brought under control.
It will be recalled that three persons were shot dead on November 29 and 30, 2015 following a similar clash between the Jamond and Jafok families in Bunkprugu. The area is under a 6am to 8pm curfew. However the Northern Regional Police PRO ASP Ebenezer Tetteh has confirmed the death of two persons in troubled Bunkprugu township after renewed clashes that lasted for hours between Wednesday night and Thursday dawn. The fight between the Jamong and Jafog (two Bimoba) clans in the area also resulted in the torching of several houses.
According to a resident (name withheld) whose father’s house was torched, hundreds of residents of Bunkprugu township have fled the area. He narrated that sporadic gun shooting lasted for several hours in an area where there is curfew. He accused security operatives in Bunkprugu of their apathy towards picking early warning signals to curtail such renewed clashes. He admonished government to re-strategize and find a permanent solution to the age long impasse between the two feuding Bimoba clans.
The two combatants have constantly been fighting over chieftaincy and other related matters. President John Dramani Mahama at the Damba festival in Mamprugu land called for permanent ceasefire in Bunkprugu. According to him, the incessant deadly feud between the two Jamong and Jafog clans is affecting his government’s transformational agenda in the Northern Region. President Mahama emphasized the need for peaceful co-existence in some identified conflict zones in the Northern Region.
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