Residents of Bawku are to be given a one-month moratorium to return their guns for cash.
The details of the “guns for cash” deal will be worked out at a meeting between the Interior Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, and the National Security Council Secretariat.
After the one-month amnesty period, those who fail to hand over their guns will be sought after, arrested and prosecuted.
Minister
In an interview with the Daily Graphic after meeting with factions in the protracted Bawku dispute, Mr Woyongo said there were far too many guns in the Bawku area.
Those guns, he said, were fueling the conflict, as some gun owners occasionally tested the guns through sporadic shootings, stressing that some of them felt excited with such open displays.
He said the essence of the exercise was to get rid of all illegal weapons in the area.
According to him, when the details of the programme were announced, the dates and how much was to be paid would be included in the final details.
Information
Mr Woyongo said after the one-month moratorium, the security agencies would go all out to retrieve the weapons.
He explained that the security agencies would use intelligence and metal detectors, among other methods, to retrieve the weapons.
As to whether he was not giving out too much information, Mr Woyongo said “I have not told them when the exercise will start”.
The minister appealed to residents to be forthcoming with information to enable the security agencies to retrieve the weapons.
Mr Woyongo said it was the residents who were suffering from the curfew imposed on the municipality and the ban on riding motorbikes, hence the need for them to take keen interest in resolving the dispute.
That, he said, was the only way to enable them to return to a normal life.
Clashes
Recent clashes in the area have claimed at least three lives within the past week.
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Source: Graphic Online