Kofi Ampeah Woode
General Officer Commanding (GOC) Southern Command (S/COMD) – Brigadier General (Brig Gen) Isaac Nicholas Paintsil, and a team of Staff Officers from the Command have paid an operational and fact-finding visit to Nkwanta, in the Oti region.
The aim of the visit on Monday 7 July 2025, was for the GOC to ascertain the security situation on the ground, to inform tactical decisions at the Higher Command, in the wake of recent ethnic clashes in the area that has caused some fatalities, leading the deployment of Military, Police, National Security personnel to the area.
Brig Gen IN Paintsil, together with the Commander, 16 Artillery Brigade – Brig Gen Selorm Amengor, visited troops deployed for internal security operations in the area, and received thorough situational briefings from Commanders on grounds.
The Officer Commanding the military detachment in the area – Captain (Capt) K Atiemo briefed the Generals on some recorded incidents since the deployment in the area, including the killing of two youthful persons in the area by stray bullets from a rival faction, apprehension of suspected miscreants by security personnel, and the search and seizure of weapons.
GOC and his entourage also toured some hotspots in the town, and visited the Nkwanta Municipal Chief Executive – Mr Joseph Antwi, who provided further details of the situation to the Generals in the area, the dynamic threats posed by the feuding factions, and the need for heightened security presence to help quell the conflict.
Renewed ethnic tensions between rival groups in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region about a fortnight ago, resulted in 3 confirmed fatalities and several injuries, over the period.
Sporadic gunshots claimed the lives of three students of Nkwanta Senior High School, which has prompted the Ghana Education Service to shut down the school until further notice.
Credit: S/COMD PR DET
