THE Northern Regional Security Committee (NREGSEC) is to embark on a house-to-house search to mop up all weapons still in the hands of civilians, particularly in the Tamale metropolis.
This follows the confirmation by the police that three persons, including an 80-year-old chief, Nango Lana Abukari Ziblim, were killed in the political violence at Gushiegu over the weekend.
The other deceased are Ayuba Abdulai, 28, and a 24-year-old man who is yet to be identified. Their remains are currently at the morgue of the Yendi Hospital awaiting autopsy.
Three others, who sustained various degrees of injury, are receiving treatment at the hospital.
Six persons arrested in connection with the disturbances are also assisting the police in their investigations. Their names have not been disclosed for security reasons.
According to the Yendi Divisional Police Command, which has oversight responsibility over Gushiegu, the area has now turned into a ghost town as many residents have deserted the once busy commercial town for fear of their lives, while others have escaped to avoid arrest.
The police source, however, gave the assurance that the situation was now under control. It said security personnel had intensified their patrol of the area to ensure sanity, while admonishing the people to remain calm.
To facilitate the search for weapons, a special security team made up of experts will be formed to help nip in the bud any signs of disturbances in the region as electioneering for the December polls heats up.
The measure is to help avert the reported stockpiling of weapons by some people to ensure peace and security in the run-up to the December general election in the metropolis.
The chairman of the committee, who is also the northern regional minister, Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, announced this at an emergency meeting with the representatives of various political parties in Tamale yesterday.
According to the Tamale Metropolitan Police Commander, A.S.P. Abanga Caesar, "we have intensified our day and night patrols in the area and so far, there has not been any cause for alarm as people are going about their duties peacefully".
The violence at Gushiegu was a spillover from an earlier clash between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Kpatinga near Gushiegu last Sunday.
The NPP supporters were returning home after erecting a party shed while their NDC counterparts were also returning from a rally at the same locality.
The situation further degenerated when both supporters returned to Gushieu to narrate the incident to their followers leading to the mayhem that was visited on the town on Monday morning.
A number of properties were destroyed while some people sustained injuries in the ensuing violence.
Both parties have, however, blamed each other for being behind the aggressors.
The NDC district chairman in the area, Alhaji Mahama Jemoni, was among those attacked. In a telephone interview with the Daily Graphic from his hospital bed at the Nalerigu Hospital, the chairman said he was attacked at home at about 6a.m.
He said five of his children sustained injuries in the attack while his three houses were burnt with a number of his vehicles including cargo trucks and Benz buses getting destroyed in the process.
According to Alhaji Jemoni, "I am yet to come to terms with the reasons behind this mayhem visited on me and my family. For now I do not know the reasons behind the actions of my attackers."
Three motorbikes and a bicycle were also burnt while a shed belonging to the NPP and the former NDC northern regional office building including some stores were set on fire. The police said no arrests had been made yet in connection with the infractions but said investigations were ongoing to apprehend the perpetrators of the violence.
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