Humanitarian crisis while violence ravage Chereponi



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General News of Monday, March 18, 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-03-18

Crisis of Chereponi Police officer helps children displaced by violence

A humanitarian crisis affects more than 100 displaced people as ethnic hostilities between Konkombas and Chokosis unfold in the Northeast region.

There is no food to eat and no water to drink for those who, in the past 24 hours, have fled the fighting and their livelihoods.

Children are an important part of the displaced population. There are pictures showing a policeman sharing a bottle of water with several thirsty children.

A man who is with the affected people lamented that certain conditions are "devastating" and "alarming".

"I do not know the word to use," said the man.

The outbreak of violence is the second of the last three months, as residents of Chereponi opened the new year with old violence.

The armed struggle is about the possession of lands considered to be no more than two acres, but having ancestral meaning.

Chereponi is a district dominated by Konkomba. Chokosis, considered by the majority of Konkombas as settlers, constitute a minority.

The Konkombas, which constitute one of the most important ethnic groups of the North until recently, did not have a supreme institution of chieftaincy.

Land ownership is a pawn of political representation in the region. Where land belongs, chieftaincy is created, where chieftaincy exists. Political representation becomes viable in institutions such as the National House of Chiefs and the influence in political parties is strengthened.

Attacks and reprisals between the Konkombas and Chokosis (also Chakosi) have continued since the colonial era. A security report said that a group of Chokosis attacked Konkombas last Sunday in Puloti village, Chereponi district.

The recent fight cost a living and over a hundred mudhouses were burned. The inhabitants fled to familiar places of peace, even to neighboring Togo.

Police say they arrested four people. According to the DSP Mohammed Yusif Tanko, representative of the Police for the Northern Region, reinforcements are expected from the regional capital Tamale.

JoyNews Northern regional correspondent Hashmin Mohammed said the people of Chereponi lived in very remote communities. He added that the absence of a road network means that helicopters are needed to reach the homes of violence as well as displaced people.

The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) has stated that it can not send relief relief as hostilities continue.

The government has the report of an investigative committee set up to examine the fatal violence of January 2019. Following a new outbreak of violence, the government woke up abruptly to implement the report.

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