By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Academic work is said to have begun in some schools in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region after months of closure due to the ongoing ethnic conflict that began in October 2023.
Hundreds of residents were said to have fled to faraway communities after more than 15 persons were killed due to disagreements over the performance of ritual rites related to the Akyodes’ 2023 annual Yam Festival.
Although a curfew has been imposed on the municipality, information emerging from the place is that tensions are still high in some communities as the situation seems not to be calming down.
Schools were closed down after a basic school teacher was shot dead in the heat of the conflict.
Speaking in an interview, the Nkwanta South Education Director, Mr. Jonathan Korsinah, announced the resumption of schools but warned they would withdraw their services if the conflict continued.
“We have some schools where teachers withdrew their services because of unrest. It is not all the schools. Last year, there were some schools in session, about 80 schools. Around December, we had discussions with the Security Agencies and stakeholders, and we’ve realized that there is relative peace in Nkwanta, especially in the areas where we had the hotspots and conflicts.
“So we resolved that once we have security protection and there is peace, we have to go back to school. So that is how we’ve gone back to school. Our stand is clear: once the place is not secured, no teacher will risk his life to go to those areas,” he said.
This resurgence of violence stems from the clash between three ethnic groups in the area regarding the celebration of the Annual Yam Festival, scheduled for October 2023.
Meanwhile, two more individuals were killed, and several others were injured in the renewed ethnic conflict in the Nkwanta South Municipality.
The recent conflict began on December 31, 2023, resulting in the fatal shooting of a young man believed to be in his 30s and another person in Odomi near Nkwanta on Tuesday, January 2, 2024.
