NORTHERN REGION ENJOYS PEACE NOW (PAGE 20, APRIL 9, 2010)

THE Northern Regional Police Command has indicated that it is on track and that it will not be distracted from its responsibility of dealing with all persons who infringe the law in the area to ensure sustainable peace and development in the region.
It gave the assurance that the recent security infringement by some unruly elements was under control and that security personnel had stepped up their presence at all the trouble spots in the area.
According to the command, all the suspects connected with crimes were being prosecuted at the law courts in Tamale.
That development, according to the police, would serve as a deterrent to others who intend to take the law into their own hands to stop the culture of impunity that had permeated the area over the years.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Tamale yesterday, the Northern Regional Police Commander, ACP Angwubotuge Awuni, was emphatic that “the law will surely catch up with anybody who falls foul of it”.
On whether there had been political interference in his duties since his assumption of office a little over a year now, he said there was none and that “even if there is, I will only listen to you but ensure that the right things are done for the sake of peace and posterity”.
He said the region had enjoyed relative peace in the past year and described the current security situation in the region as isolated cases, stressing, “Security in the Northern Region is not under threat; everything is under control”.
The commander mentioned chieftaincy and land issues as some of the matters that had threatened the security of the area over the years and entreated traditional authorities and their subjects to always endeavour to alert the police whenever there were signs of conflict, instead of waiting for them to explode.
He mentioned the recent cache of arms which was being smuggled to Bunkpurugu, the murder of the eight-year-old boy by his uncle in Tamale and that of the 60-year-old woman by one Sofo, her stepson, in Yendi, the killing of the chief of Garizhegu, near Tamale, and said all the suspects involved in those cases were currently being prosecuted in Tamale.
“I would, therefore, like to remind the people that we are not going to shield anybody in such matters, irrespective of one’s party or chieftaincy affiliation, so far as the matter borders on crime,” ACP Awuni warned.
He also appealed to the chiefs and people of the region to support the security services to flush out miscreants in the area to ensure lasting peace and development in the region.