The Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga has explained why he petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate the alleged killing of Bawku residents by some military personnel.
According to him, he chose that route because, the murder of the 10 residents is a human rights issue.
In the past, such incidents have been investigated by presidential commissions.
Speaking in an interview on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, he said “I don’t want the President’s hand in the investigations.”
“What have we gotten out of all of these commissions that were set up by the President in the past over these killings? What happened? Nothing happened,” he added when asked whether a commission should be set for it.
This, according to him, is to prevent the case from being politicised.
“I want the truth out, I don’t want some high-level exercise that will come to nothing. I believe the Human Rights Commission will do a good job of establishing what happened and they will take action to ensure that there are remedial measures,” he insisted.
The Bawku Central MP on Friday petitioned CHRAJ to investigate alleged killings of civilians by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).
He sought damages of GH¢500,000 each for the families of those who lost their life and adequate compensation for injured victims.
Narrating his account, he said he had information that there were gun fires on Tuesday night in Bawku.
He explained further that the military, as part of efforts to curtail the situation, chased anyone they saw and as people took to their heels were shot at by the officers.
“The military shot at them and in the process killed six civilians,” he stated on Wednesday, February 1.
“A little boy who also run to hide behind some grasses was also shot. The grass caught fire and burnt him to death, making the number 7.”
According to him, the Armed Forces personnel have violated the constitutional right to life of his constituents hence his action.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces ha refuted claims of killings. According to GAF, the reportage is untrue and should be ignored.
GAF in a press release issued on Thursday, February 2, and signed by its Director of Public Relations, chronicled several incidents of violent attacks in the area.
However, the release stated that the soldiers engaged a group of armed men and neutralised six of them.
“In a separate incident, sporadic firing was heard around Sabongari General Area. A Patrol Team dispatched to assess the situation spotted unknown armed men at Gozesi-Valley side in Sabongari wearing black T-shirts with Black Hoodies.
“Troops engaged them and neutralised six armed men. During the engagement, some armed men took cover in a mud house within the immediate vicinity to engage the Team.”
