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A debacle between officers from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Ghana Prison Service (GPS) stationed at Bawku in the Upper East Region has left 25 wounded, one of them severely.
The clash became very intense after a soldier allegedly assaulted a prison officer at the forecourt of the palace of Bawku Paramount Chief, Zug-Ran Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, last Wednesday.
The violent clash, which disrupted the celebration of 40th anniversary of the chief’s reign, saw hundreds of celebrants running for their lives.
The cause of the fracas is yet to be established, but a police source close to the Ghanaian Times here in Bolgatanga disclosed that there had been a cold war between the military and the prison officers in Bawku since last year.
He narrated that at the event where the security were deployed to maintain order, a military officer (name withheld) accused an officer with the prison service of stealing his phone some months ago.
The incident attracted reprisal attack from armed prison service personnel who accosted an armoured military vehicle on its return from the place of the Zug-Ran, and manhandled the military personnel onboard.
The Assistant Director-in-charge of Operations at the Ghana Prisons Service, when contacted, said, “I’m yet to get the details of the impasse, and can’t give any comments for now.”
An officer with the Bawku Prison Service and victim in the tussle, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said he could confirm some military men, armed with ammunitions, violently stormed the prison station, but rejected rumour making rounds that some inmates had escaped.
The Bawku Divisional Police Command is yet to confirm or otherwise any arrests.
Meanwhile, as at the time of filing this report, a crunch meeting was being held between the leadership of the military and prison service to resolve the problem.
Meanwhile, the prison officer who was shot on the arm is on admission at the Bawku Presbyterian Hospital.
FROM FRANCIS DABRE DABANG, BAWKU
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