The seeming endless fighting in Bawku is a matter of serious concern. It has always been so anyway but under the current situation in which terrorists have us in their sights, we must be even more worried about the senseless killings.
The national security apparatus could not have been busier; the possibility of terrorists cashing in on the nasty security situation in Bawku and sneaking in.
Bawku is too close to the terrorist hotspots of Burkina Faso, an hour’s drive or less to that country from the Upper East, a former bustling trading centre. Widana, which is part of Bawku, shares a frontier with Sankasi, which is in Northern Togo, a place where terrorist activities have been observed. This restive town is also not far from Niger and Nigeria. Bawku is some twenty four hours away from the fringes of parts of Nigeria.
For those who are conversant with security management and possess a good working knowledge of Bawku, and appreciate the common languages among the people of these parts of Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria, they know how these factors would facilitate the movement of terrorists when they take the decision to move.
We cannot vouch for the non-cooperation between the warring factions in the Bawku hostilities and the terrorists in Burkina Faso, Niger or even Mali.
A few weeks ago, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration warned Ghanaians from traveling to Mali where terrorists are active. Although the reason for the directive was not given, we could presume without any iota of apprehension that the terrorists were targeting citizens of some countries and Ghana could be one.
The history of war shows that weapons are smuggled from theatres of hostilities to neighbouring countries a booming gunrunning business.
Our country’s unfortunate situation of hosting nasty and endless hostilities in Bawku presents a fertile ground for the reception of smuggled weapons. With terrorists already seeking to widen their axis of fire, a restive Bawku already awash with weapons in the hands of non-state actors the town offers them a welcome opportunity.
In the latest bout of firefight in the former bustling trading centre, information has it that a police officer was killed and a soldier seriously injured. A man who called the bluff of the soldiers also lost his life. For how long shall we contain this imbecile bout of murderous bravado?
Now that the national security implication of the senseless internecine war is expanding beyond its seams, and preparing the grounds for the likely exploitation of terrorists next-door, shouldn’t we do even more to stem the bedlam?
Of course we must because, it is less costly to prevent terrorists than confronting them when they pitch camp here. The security implications would be too much for us to bear. The time to stop the Bawku bloodshed is now!
