The Minister for the Interior has, by Executive Instrument, renewed the curfew imposed on Bawku Municipality and its surrounding areas in the Upper East Region.
The new curfew hours, effective Monday, February 17, 2025, will run from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
In a statement issued on Monday and signed by Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, the government also announced a total ban on carrying arms, ammunition, or any offensive weapons in Bawku and its environs.
The statement warned that anyone found in possession of such items would be arrested and prosecuted.
The government urged chiefs, elders, opinion leaders, youth, and residents to remain calm and use non-violent means to resolve conflicts while working toward lasting peace in the area.
Meanwhile, on February 15, the Ministry of Interior imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Walewale and its surrounding communities in the North East Region following a series of violent attacks and killings along the Bolgatanga-Tamale highway.
The directive, signed by Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, took effect on Saturday, February 15, 2025, and is enforced daily from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Background
Four children between the ages of five months to 13 years have been killed in Bawku since 25th January 2025 to 14th February 2025.
The first incident occurred on the 25th of January, 2025 when gunmen attacked a 13-year-old boy who was shepherding cattle around the Posum-Singnatinga-Possum enclave.
The boy who was only identified as Sherif was approached by the attackers who snapped his neck to death and bolted with the cattle that were under his care.
On the 8th of February 2024, gunmen in military uniform stormed the residence of a family at Tensungo and shot dead a seven-month-old, a two-year-old child, and their mother.
In a related development, a woman also lost her five-month-old daughter after gunmen pounced on her and killed the daughter.
Currently, about 58 people have been killed in the area since the re-emergence of the conflict in October 2024.
The area remains volatile as combatants still engage each other in gun a battle every day in the Bawku township with others attacking on the Bawku-Bolga-Tamale highway.
