The Bawku Chief, Naba Abugrago Asigri Azoka II, has affirmed his commitment to using pacific dispute resolution mechanisms towards restoring lasting peace to Bawku in the Upper East Region.
Naba Asigri Azoka II gave the assurance during a meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House on Friday.
The crucial meeting followed heightened tension in the Bawku Municipality, after the enskinment of a rival Bawku Chief in Nalerigu on 15th February 2023.
Decades of protracted Bawku Chieftaincy dispute has featured prominently in security discourse, in recent times, due to renewed violence in the area and the likelihood of the border town being exploited by terrorist elements in neighbouring Burkina Faso to launch attacks in the country.
However, government in a statement issued by the Ministry of Information on 15th February 2023, assured the residents of the Bawku Municipality that any development likely to undermine the peace and security of the area would be swiftly dealt with in accordance with the laws of the State.
It described the enskinment of the new Bawku Naba as illegal and an act that is a national security violation.
“The Government condemns developments in Nalerigu today February 15, 2023, concerning the purported enskinment of a new Bawku Naba as illegal and a threat to National Security.
“Government further re-iterates that Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II is the Bawku Naba, duly gazetted and a member of the National and Upper East Regional Houses of Chiefs.
“The Security agencies have therefore been directed to arrest and prosecute any other person who holds himself out as a Bawku Naba. Further, any developments that have the potential to undermine the peace of Bawku will also be dealt with swiftly and in accordance with law”, the statement issued by the Minister for Information, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah concluded.
