A youth group in the Upper West Regional capital Wa, dubbed “Labadi Camp” has led thousands of residents in a street protest against recent serial killings. Such suspected ritual killings target private security personnel (watchmen) and mentally challenged individuals in Wa Municipality.
The youth group expressed deep worry over the increasing incidents of these brutal killings of innocent people and minimal action on the part of the security services to apprehend the perpetrators.
Representing the region, the Group successfully mobilized thousands of indigenes to express solidarity with the affected families and to voice their frustration over the perceived lack of proactiveness by the Police Service to apprehend the killers.
Submitting a petition to the Director of Upper West Regional Coordinating Council, the spokesperson for the group Maurice Banaamwini further called on President Akufo Addo and the Interior Minister to take a personal interest in the matter. The organizers of the demonstration say the incessant killings in Wa must be treated as a national priority
Eleven people were killed in 2023 with their body organs harvested by the suspected killers. Subsequently, the then Interior Minister and Member of Parliament for Nandom, Ambrose Dery revealed that some persons had been arrested but little details were given about prosecution. Two security men were killed in a similar fashion a day after Eid Ul-Adha in 2024 with no arrest made yet.
Similar incidents have been recorded in Bole in the Savannah Region.
Report by Alhassan erasung Tajudeen
