Armed soldiers deployed to Nalerigu to arrest a purportedly enskinned Bawku Naba and the Overlord of Mamprugu clashed with the town’s youth at midnight. The troops’ attempt came after a Bolgatanga High Court issued an arrest warrant for the two traditional leaders for their role in the Wednesday enskinment of a new chief. In an effort to apprehend the “illegally enskinned” Bawku Naba and Mamprugu Overlord, soldiers engage in combat with Nalerigu adolescents.
The act is a breach of national security, according to a press release from the Information Ministry on February 15.“The Government condemns developments in Nalerigu today February 15, 2023, concerning the purported enskinment of a new Bawku Naba as illegal and a threat to National Security,” excerpts of the statement signed by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said.
The statement continued that “Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II is the Bawku Naba, duly gazetted and a member of the National and Upper East Regional Houses of Chiefs.” Thus, it has ordered the security agencies to detain and prosecute anyone else who presents themselves as a Bawku NaNaba.
Eliasu Tanko, a correspondent for JoyNews, said that when the military forces arrived on Sunday night, they encountered furious town youngsters and were unable to make the arrest. The two chiefs’ palaces had been taken over by the youth, which resulted in a standoff and the soldiers’ subsequent retreat. The police then turned around and left. Nonetheless, the young people vandalized an NPP office and the local police station as a result of the situation.
