THE Minister for the Interior, Alhaji Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has revealed that some security personnel posted to Nakpanduri and other conflict areas to restore peace and security are seeking transfers, while others have resigned due to attacks by residents.
He noted that the unwillingness of people in the area to cooperate with security personnel amid recent violent chieftaincy and land disputes in the Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri District — disputes that have led to the disappearance of some individuals — remained a major concern.
“Mr Speaker, I must admit that the challenge in that area is enormous. All of us are aware of the challenges that we have been having for the past one and half years in Bawku and its environs. We do not have any extra police officers where you will say that when something happens, you will just pull them and send them to the area,” Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak said.
“Mr Speaker, the majority of the armoured vehicles we had the opportunity to receive are there. But the worrying thing is when the citizens are not willing to cooperate with the police to ensure peace in their area. Just a day before yesterday, an officer was shot and killed, and it makes it difficult when you want to send officers there. People even go and beg that they have to be transferred. I have instances where you sit in the office and an officer resigns,” he added.
The Minister raised the concerns while contributing to a statement delivered on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bunkpurugu, Dr Abed-Nego A. Lamangin Bandim, on the security situation and reported disappearances in Nakpanduri.
He appealed to legislators to encourage officers who approach them to seek transfers from conflict areas to remain and help restore peace, while the government implemented appropriate measures to ensure their safety.
“Mr Speaker, I want to encourage my colleagues from conflict areas such as Nakpanduri and Bunkpurugu to help by establishing community policing, and I can assure you, Mr Speaker, that we have a Directorate at the Police Headquarters that deal with community policing,” he observed.
Alhaji Mohammed-Mubarak further clarified that only one disappearance had been officially recorded in Nakpanduri, contrary to the seven cases cited by Dr Bandim.
“Mr Speaker, my colleague, the MP for Nakpanduri, met the Regional Police Commander, and he told him that it is only one case of disappearance that had been reported,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Bandim maintained that the absence of conclusive investigations into the reported disappearances had created uncertainty for affected families and underscored the need for urgent action.
He described the latest disappearance in Nakpanduri as evidence of a deteriorating security environment in the North East Region and called for a more intelligence-led approach by security agencies.
Dr Bandim also urged a review of the docket on missing persons and a preliminary investigation by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) into the recorded cases.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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