A 17 year-old girl has died after she suffered gun shot wounds in the neck in a suspected renewed clashes between Nkonya and Alavanyo in the Volta Region.
Joy News has learnt the deceased, native of Nkonya, was shot by some unidentified gunmen Friday and died at the Margret Marquart Catholic Hospital where she was rushed.
Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa said he dispatched some security officers to the border between Nkonya and Alavanyo after he was informed about a crime.
He told Joy News when the officers arrived at the scene they saw some men firing bullets into the Nkonya Township. The men stopped and bolted after they saw the security men.
According to him, the gunmen returned after the security officers had left the scene. In the process, the deceased who was on an errand was hit by a stray bullet.
“There is an entry wound but not an exit wound, so we believe the bullet is still in her neck,” Dr Letsa said of the deceased.
The death comes less than 24 hours after the Regional Security Council dispatched a contingent of police and military personnel to beef up security in the two communities.
Residents of Nkonya and Alavanyo are disputing over a land covering an area of 6,459.82 acres that experts say is fertile for agrarian purposes, rich in timber and alleged to have deposits of gold, clay and mercury.
Two residents were shot dead, with two others sustaining gun shot wounds at Nkonya in the renewed violence between the two communities Wednesday.
The attack happened minutes after the Interior Ministry reviewed the curfew imposed in the area.
The Police in the Region have begun investigations into the matter.
Government has said it is considering a forceful acquisition of the disputed land to bring a lasting solution to the 100-year hostilities between the two communities.
Dr Letsa has said the two factions have indicated their preparedness to release the land for use by the state.
Meanwhile, the Paramount Chiefs and Queen Mothers of the two towns have been suspended indefinitely by the Volta Regional House of Chiefs for their failure to stop the recent clashes.
But Alavanyo Chief Togbe Tsedze Atakora has said their suspension from the House is “misplaced judgment” and does not help to solve the issue at stake.
He said considering his age and that of his counterpart, it will be difficult for for them to go into the bush to stop miscreants who are fomenting trouble.
Togbe Atakora said it is rather the responsibility of the security agencies to find those who are behind the resurgence of conflict and prosecute them.
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