Fear grips Chereponi SHS final year students over possible ethnic clashes

Some students of the Chereponi Senior High School in the Chereponi District of the North East Region have fled over fears of clashes between the Chekosis and Konkombas.

It is unclear what triggered the latest misunderstanding between the two ethnic groups, although the two have a long-standing dispute over a piece of land.

The conflict has in the past resulted in the burning of houses and led to the loss of human lives.

Although some security personnel have been deployed to the area, more students continue to leave the school due to pressure from their parents.

A teacher, who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity, described the situation as worrying because the final year students who are preparing for their final year exams are mostly affected.

“Last week, we realised that a lot of the Konkomba students were leaving without permission. We investigated and realized that it was indeed true that they were leaving. But the majority of them we consulted never confirmed that it was because of attack although they were leaving with their chop boxes. The House master also confirmed that there are speculations that there was going to be an attack on the 5th of March.”

“All those who have left are final year students who are going to write their examination on 1st April. Because of what happened on 31st [January], we were not able to write our Mock exams because we did not reopen on time. The teachers do not feel motivated to teach because, you enter a class and majority of the students are not there”, the teacher added.

Fear grips nurses, midwives in Chereponi over renewed clashes

Earlier this year, the Chereponi branch of the Association of the Registered Nurses and Midwives appealed to authorities within the district to protect them by evacuating them from the area.

It followed recent clashes between the Konkombas and the Anufuls that led to four deaths, with several persons injured and property worth thousands destroyed.

General Secretary of the group, Mahamudu Ibrahim Nasah, said they no longer feel safe in the area as their lives are in danger.

He thus called on their superiors to allow them to leave the area and return when calm is restored.

Renewed clashes at Chereponi and curfews

The clash was reportedly triggered by suspicions that some Chekosi had attacked some Konkombas with stones, which resulted in a confrontation.

The clash has usually led to the imposition of a 6:00am to 6:00pm curfew on the Chereponi township effective today

The curfew means there is a total ban on the carrying of arms, ammunition or any offensive weapon.

The Defence Ministry has since been deploying more troops to the area to ensure calm.

Government has also inaugurated a five-member fact-finding committee to look into the circumstances that led to the deadly clash between Konkombas and Chokosis in the Chereponi District of the Northern Region.

There were concerns that not enough attention was being paid to the situation.

Some members of the Anuful community in Tamale complained at the Regional Coordinating Council that the government may be underestimating the situation.

A spokesperson for the group, Dr. Solomon Gumang said, “we think it is because of underestimation of the threat and the extent to which the threat is such that we think they should act very decisively.”

Source: citinewsroom.com