The timely intervention of a Ghana Police Service Patrol team in Bawku foiled an alleged bomb threat by unknown assailants, who took to their heels, leaving the bomb behind.
The unexploded ordinance has since been retrieved by Ghana Police and handed over to the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) for safe custody at the 11 Mechanised Battalion Magazine in Bazua, Upper East.
The two unknown assailants, according to the GAF, in the early hours of Thursday, January 18, 2024 attempted to bomb a Goil Filling Station in Bawku.
The GAF, in a statement dated Saturday, January 20, 2024 said the two were spotted attempting to light up a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) at about 05:30 hours last Thursday.
“In another development, at about 05:30 hrs same day, a Ghana Police patrol team spotted two locals attempting to light up a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) bomb at a Goil Filling Station in Bawku,” Director General, Public Affairs, GAF, Brigadier General E Aggrey-Quashie said in the statement he signed.
“The suspects fled upon sighting the patrol team, leaving behind the bomb. Ghana Police retrieved the Unexploded Ordinance (UXO) and handed over same for safe custody at 11 Mechanised Battalion Magazine at Bazua,” the release continued.
CHANGING DYNAMICS
The GAF said the presence and attempt to detonate high explosives such as RPG bombs in the operational environment signpost the changing dynamics of the threat profile.
This is the second attempted bombing in the north in barely a year. In February 2023, criminals up north tried to blow up a bridge. They used improvised explosives.
The government already dreads the growing violent spillover from a jihadist war across the border in Burkina Faso.
The Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, informed Parliament on Wednesday, February 8, 2023 three days after the incident had happened the previous Sunday, and warned the nation against the conflict.
DON’T JOKE
He said that “for the first time, Mr Speaker, three days ago, an improvised explosive device was used to blow a bridge. Don’t let us joke with Bawku. And that is how terrorists operate.”
According to the minister, the threat of terrorism hanging around Ghana through the corridors of Bawku is real.
As such, the security agencies are working within Bawku and its precincts with the mindset that if the Bawku conflict does not stop now, “we risk the situation where Ghana can be thrown under terrorist attacks.
“What is happening today is not about chieftaincy. It is criminality. Those operating are criminals,” the minister said.
SHOOTINGS
The Thursday, January 18, 2024 incident was another development in the seeming escalating security tension in the town.
On Wednesday, January 17, 2024 unknown gunmen attacked members of the public behind Bawku Divisional Police Station, killing two victims and injuring four others.
The GAF statement chronicled the turn of events, which it said began on Friday, January 12, 2024 with the murder of a 40-year-old man.
The GAF said troops dispatched to the scene retrieved two 7.62 x 39mm live rounds from the deceased’s pocket.
The release also said that in the early hours of Saturday, January 13, 2024 sporadic gunshots were heard at New Station, Daduuri, and Maziama.
The statement also describes an incident worth mentioning where GAF troops conducting night foot patrols around Hasania School at Sabongari were fired upon by four gunmen.
The statement said the troops returned fire spontaneously, neutralising three of the assailants and the fourth suspect managed to escape.
DEBUNK
The GAF statement basically addressed allegations that soldiers deployed on Operation Maida Buuri to restore calm in Bawku had killed three innocent Kusasi youth at Sabongari, a suburb of Bawku.
It also debunked allegations that the assailants were initially held in custody by its troops and subsequently executed.
WARNING
The statement sternly warned and instructively noted that “directly engaging the military is a development that could result in fatal consequences, as troops will spare no opportunity to defend themselves, as well as protect residents of Bawku.”
The GAF, therefore, cautioned factions in the Bawku conflict against drawing the military into direct armed confrontation while efforts are undertaken to resolve the current impasse.
