Police, military deployed to crack down on warmongers in conflict-ravaged town

The security forces

The security situation in conflict-ravaged Chereponi and Saboba remains fluid days after security authorities called on feuding factions to cease fire.

Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, has urged the factions to lay down their arms but sporadic fighting continues, claiming lives and displacing hundreds of women and children.

Head of Joy News’ Security Desk, Gifty Andoh-Appiah, who has been to the Chereponi reports Monday that there is uneasy calm in the North East Region towns -- even after Chokosis and Kokombas agreed to give peace a chance.

To forestall further clashes, a heavy team of police and military personnel have been deployed to the township.

The security forces will be expected to clamp down on armed groups that attack residents of rival towns.

The Konkombas and Chokosis tribes have frequently waged war against each other over a small piece of land in the poverty-stricken Chereponi district.

The clashes in April this year displaced some 1, 860 residents, according to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) estimates.

This image of Chereponi District Police Commander giving water to displaced children captures the humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict

Meanwhile, the long-standing conflict in the town has been blamed on the government’s inability to adequately resourced police to deal with the fluid security situation.

Police have been appealing for logistics such as motorbikes to access remote parts of the district where gunmen wreak havoc on residents, mostly women and children.


Source: Myjoyonline.com