A 27-year-old woman, Abdulai Zalia, has been arrested by the West Mamprusi Police Command for allegedly stealing a 13-month-old baby on Thursday, April 18, in Walewale, North East Region.
Reportedly, the mother of the stolen child, who was asleep in an open area of her house, discovered her baby missing upon the return of the baby’s father.
The concerned parents immediately notified the police.
Acting promptly, the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) arrested the alleged baby thief on the same day, April 18, and recovered the 13-month-old from her possession.
Sources familiar with the situation revealed that the accused woman, originally from Nalerigu, has a history of mental challenges and petty theft in the area.
The police have confirmed that the case is currently under investigation.
The arrested woman is expected to appear before the court in Walewale on Friday, April 19, 2024.
Heavy rainfall in various parts of the North East Region, has claimed five lives as well as leaving several injuries.
The disaster unfolded with four individuals losing their lives in the floodwaters of the East Mamprusi and West Mamprusi municipalities.
Additionally, a person was tragically killed when a building collapsed in the Yunyoo/Nansuan District.
The victims’ bodies were discovered days after the torrential downpour wreaked havoc across the region, with drainage systems and ponds becoming their final resting places.
The North East Regional Director of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), John Kwaku Alhassan, confirmed these distressing events to the media.
He added that the deceased have been handed over to their grieving families for proper burial rites.
Alhassan’s team is actively assessing the extent of the devastation caused by the floods. The goal is to provide prompt emergency relief to the affected individuals.
Alhassan noted the grim reality that the flooding situation is worsening, causing extensive property damage throughout the region.
“The situation is not too good because some of the areas are being cut off, with other buildings collapsing,” he stated.
NADMO is also proactively engaged in raising awareness among residents living along the White Volta. Through community announcements in churches and markets, people are being urged to relocate to higher ground to preempt further catastrophes.
Background:
The aftermath of the downpour resulted in severe inundation of parts of the West Mamprusi and East Mamprusi municipalities.
Notably, Walewale, the capital of the West Mamprusi Municipality, became isolated from Nalerigu, the regional capital.
This isolation was caused by the destruction of a bridge and a dam at Tinguri due to the floods, rendering the primary road connecting the two towns impassable.
The repercussions of this disaster left residents of the affected areas without homes, while travelers between Walewale and Nalerigu were stranded due to the inaccessibility of the route. Countless individuals were displaced, and valuable assets including houses, farmlands, livestock, and property were swept away by the deluge.
Among the affected communities are Gaagbini, Tinguri, Mimima, Kuruguduri, Walewale, Nalerigu, Yunyoo, and Chereponi.
An 80-year-old mother has been killed while attempting to separate her son and daughter-in-law who were engaged in a quarrel.
She was reportedly shot to death by her son, who went inside the room in the heat of the altercation, returned with a gun and shot her.
Named as Wuni Tuunaaba, the incident happened last Thursday at Guabulga in the West Mamprusi Municipality in the North East Region.
She has since been laid to rest in line with Islamic religion.
The suspect, Wuni Haruna is in police custody.
What happened?
Confirming the incident, the Assembly member of the Guabulga Electoral Area, Bugri Gabriel told Graphic Online’s Mohammed Fugu that there was a misunderstanding between Haruna and his wife at about 7pm last Thursday [June 15, 2023].
Haruna’s mother reportedly intervened in a quest to restore peace.
Haruna reportedly rushed to the room for a single-barrel gun and shot the mother dead.
“I got a distress call from a family member that someone had shot the mother dead. The suspect said he intended to give a warning shot but unfortunately, the bullet hit the mother,” the assembly member said.
He indicated the suspect has since been picked up by the police to assist with investigation while the deceased has been buried.
a 45-year-old man named Samuel Dokurugu Gumah was fatally shot during a robbery attack in Sawaba, located in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region.
The incident occurred between 7 PM and 8 PM on Thursday, June 15, 2023.
According to the victim’s family, Samuel Dokurugu Gumah was escorting a Fulani man from Gbimsi to Sawaba.
The Fulani man had visited the deceased at his residence in Gbimsi, and they had conducted a transaction involving the sale of a cow. The Fulani man had sold the cow in Kumasi and brought the proceeds to the deceased’s residence in Gbimsi.
After receiving the money, the Fulani man requested that the deceased give him a ride on his motorbike to his residence located in a remote area in the bush at Sawaba. Unfortunately, they encountered armed robbers on their way.
During the robbery attack, both individuals were assaulted by armed criminals. Tragically, Samuel Dokurugu Gumah lost his life as a result of the attack. The other man, who also sustained injuries, is currently receiving medical treatment at the Walewale Government Hospital.
The incident has brought sorrow and shock to the community, and authorities are working to investigate the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Reverend Joseph Gumah, a family member of the deceased in an interview with GhanaWeb said “The man came and paid the money to him and then told him to send him to Sawaba. So, when they were on their way to Sawaba, this incident happened.”
Reverend Joseph Gumah appealed to the police to investigate the matter to ensure that the bandits are arrested.
“The police should do very well to bring out the mystery behind this,” he said.
The Assemblyman for the Gbimsi electoral area, Iddi Jonah Salifu lamented the insecurity in the municipality and urged the security enforcement agencies to treat the matter as an emergency.
“I think our lives are in danger and there is the need for something to be done about it, so, I am pleading with the security agencies to come in and do whatever it takes to ensure that they reduce or take care of this insecurity issue and give us a breathing space,” he said.
Students of the Walewale Vocational and Technical Institute (WAVTI) in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region are bearing the brunt of the shortage of food in the school.
The school which was recently added to the beneficiary boarding schools in the region is still not properly feeding the students the required diet.
The students are fed with gari without sugar, salt, or oil for over three weeks during lunch and supper meals respectively.
Some students are suffering from beriberi, with sores in their mouths, stomach pain, and diarrhea due to the continuous intake of gari without oil or sugar.
Meanwhile, the boys are compelled to carry concrete and other construction-related works in Walewale and other neighboring communities due to the hunger they are encountering.
They lamented that the shortage of food in the school had affected their studies and other academic activities.
“We are suffering here. Every day, we are given only gari. Some of us have diarrhea and fever due to the gari we are eating. If we get the chance, we will run to our parents. They have been giving us gari, we cannot count the number of weeks that we take gari,” one of the students lamented.
Some say they are scratching their private parts because of the kind of food they always take.
“We are not getting enough and some of us don’t have food in our chop boxes or money to buy food. It is affecting us. Some of us are scratching our testis because of the gari we take every day,” another student bemoaned.
Another student also added that “They have been giving us food like porridge in the morning without sugar and then lunch times too, they normally give us gari without oil or sugar. We are suffering because whenever we call home for help, our parents always tell us that the school is feeding us so why are we requesting food again? Things are difficult here and we don’t know what to do.”
Meanwhile, some sources disclosed that on Wednesday 5th of October, the students took porridge for breakfast, lunch, and supper after their usual gari got finished on Tuesday (4th October 2022).
The principal of the school declined to comment on the issue saying the regional director of education can only speak on the matter.
Members of the West Mamprusi Municipal Assembly have kicked against the auctioning of vehicles belonging to the Assembly in a special meeting held on Tuesday.
The members said they were not informed about the intention and also not privy to the processes that went on regarding the sale of the vehicles and as to whether the vehicles were properly valued to the benefit of the Municipality.
The members who kicked against the practice at the special meeting of the Assembly in Walewale, the Municipal capital, said the law frowned on sidestepping due processes in the auctioning of Assembly properties.
Other issues that featured prominently in the deliberations at the meeting included the issue of water crisis and the high cost of connecting the water system to households within the municipal capital, Walewale.
The Assembly members suggested the appearance of the Ghana Water Company manager before them to explain the reasons behind the high cost the utility.
According to one of the assembly men, who spoke to 3news.com, there was lack of transparency in the auctioning of the vehicles, since members were not privy to items auctioned, the cost per item and the total amount realised to satisfy them on transparency and accountability.
Members also impressed upon the Assembly to furnish them with a copy of the budget to enable a proper study of the document to enable them understand the various areas the Assembly intended to spend on and as to whether they were captured in the scale of preference with value for money considered, to allow for transparency.
The hearing of the budget was therefore adjourned.
Issahaku Aremeyaw Somo, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for West Mamprusi Municipality in the North East Region, has said he was lucky to have escaped a robbery attack targeted at him.
According to him, he had some security personnel with him who had to open fire and repel the robbers who attempted to block his convoy.
Speaking to Joy News on Monday, the MCE disclosed that the incident happened on Sunday night when he was traveling to some communities which were affected by the recent floods in the region to disburse funds to the flood victims.
Issahaku Aremeyaw Somo explained that the robbers mounted roadblocks between Zaksilary and Nasi, and laid siege awaiting the arrival of his convoy.
He said: “I called for the police patrol. When we got to Zaksilary, they waited until they were not getting us. So, two motorbikes were passing and they shot at one. He got to Zaksilary and told us that we should not move. So quickly the police patrol moved in there and chased them off.â€
Aremeyaw Somo said he suspects the robbers may have come after the money in his possession.
He added: “We are suspecting they came after the GHS100,000. Since then, I have had to move about with security. I knew that my security was important so I had to go with the police. That way, my security is assured while disbursing the money.â€
Aremeyaw Somo noted that one of the two men on the motorbike who saved his life suffered gunshot injuries.
The MCE urged the Ministry of the Interior to as a matter of urgency provide a vehicle to the police for more intensive patrols because the municipality is known to be a robbery hotspot with armed gangs capitalizing on poor road networks in the area to attack commuters.
The Municipal Chief Executive for West Mamprusi Assembly in the North East Region, Issahaku Aremeyaw Somo, has said he escaped a robbery attack on Monday, October 12, 2020.
This happened when the MCE was travelling to communities to disburse money to victims of recent flooding in the region.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Somo said he was able to escape the attack because security personnel came in time to open fire on a group of robbers who attempted to block his convoy.
“Fortunately the police came in. But then at the time, they had already shot a motor rider on the leg. I was with the chiefs distributing the money when they brought him. They quickly rushed him to the hospital. I was alarmed, so I quickly had to go back to Walewale.â€
“That particular road is noted for robbery. Because of that, we mounted a number of security checks in the area and that had helped in curbing the attacks. But recently, the police had an accident in the area, and so they had toned down a bit, so I am sure these robbers wanted to take advantage of the situation. But luck evaded them,†he added.
On Thursday, October 1, 2020, four villages, Gaagbini, Dimia, Tinkaya, and Banawa were submerged in floodwaters following massive torrential rains that forced the banks of three dams to break, allowing the water from the dams to rush onto the villages
The government gave GHS100,000 to the MCE to support flood victims in the municipality.Â
Mr. Somo said he suspects the robbers may have come after the money in his possession.
“We are suspecting they came after the GHS100,000. Since then, I have had to move about with security. That way, my security is assured while disbursing the money.â€
Victims of flooding in the West Mamprusi municipality are still crying out for help from the state after being displaced.
A day after the government donated GHS100,000 and relief items to floods victims of Thursday torrential rain in parts of the West Mamprusi municipality, the flood victims are yet to receive improved help.
Speaking to Citi News, some displaced persons complained about hunger as food meant for the victims from the assembly are not forthcoming.
A victim of the flooding complained about the conditions in the schools being used as havens saying, “for the past three days, we have been finding it difficult to fend for ourselves.â€
“We have only been provided with two classrooms to live in. We are over 300, but because of the limited space, we the men have left the classrooms for the women and children while we hang around outside. The food is not enough, they brought in 77 food packs whereas we are close to 300 in number.â€
“We do not know what to do now, the DCE allowed us to move in here until further notice. The food they provide is not enough, we are forced to hand them over to the children while we strive to survive. They claim they have brought us food, but we are not feeling the impact. We have nothing to survive on, with no helper,†another lamented.
“The said amount donated to us by the government has not been disbursed yet, the DCE and NPP parliamentary candidate took the money to Walewale but we have not heard from them,†he added.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia cut short his campaign tour of the Greater Accra Region to visit the victims of the devastating floods.
Upon arrival, he donated GHS 100,000 to food victims.
Four villages; Gaagbini, Dimia, Tinkaya and Banawa have been the hardest hit in the municipality.
On Thursday, the villages were submerged in floodwaters following massive torrential rains that forced the banks of three dams to break, allowing the water from the dams to rush onto the villages.
Acres of farmlands were submerged while some livestock was carried away by the floodwaters.
It has been confirmed by officials of NADMO that a three-year-old child also died due to the flood.
