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File photo: Policemen patrolling the streets to maintain law and order
File photo: Policemen patrolling the streets to maintain law and order

Update from Japekrom/Drobo: Security beefed up

The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command has beefed up security at vital government and private installations to provide maximum security to workers at Drobo and Japekrom in the Jaman South Municipality in a bid to restore socio-economic activities to the area.

Last Wednesday, the peace and socio-economic activities in the twin towns were grounded after a renewed violence that claimed two lives, injured 14 people while property worth thousands of Ghana Cedis were destroyed.

Already, a combined police and military reinforcement made up of 60 policemen and 40 military men is on the ground, while a contingent of police and military personnel, drawn from Accra are expected to add up to the number to prevent any further nasty situation.

The Minister of the Interior Thursday imposed an indefinite 6pm to 6am curfew on the two communities and six others to stop further escalation of the clashes.

Despite the heavy security, schools and shops remain close with few people walking the streets, albeit with fear and trepidation.

One of a number of vehicles set ablaze during the confusion

Death toll
Police still maintain that the death toll stands at two people, but local reports suggest that the death toll has risen to six.

A source explained that two persons out of the 14 injured who were receiving treatment at the Sampa Government Hospital had died, while three of them had been referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.

Information also gathered by Graphic Online indicates that two local journalists who work at Kiss FM at Drobo but reside at Japekrom have been attacked and asked to leave the town in their own interest.

Police Briefing
The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector Augustine Kingsley Oppong, told Graphic Online that, members of the joint military patrol team deployed to the area to ensure law and order had been accompanying residents from the two communities to cross into each other’s jurisdiction to transact business.

Background
A long-standing territorial dispute between Japekrom and Drobo, which has gone as far as the Supreme Court, came to a head last Wednesday leading to clashes that resulted deaths, injuries and the destruction of property.

Peace and security experts in the region have explained that both towns had been giving different interpretations to the ruling of the Apex Court to suit their aspirations and there had been occasional skirmishes between the two feuding towns.

In one of the hostilities between the two towns on April 3, 2018, about 10 unidentified armed men stormed Drobo to destroy a fence, amidst indiscriminate shooting.

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