Abdul Aziz Ismail, a resident of the Ashanti Region and survivor of Ghana’s protracted Bawku conflict, carries scars both physical and emotional from a violent episode that claimed the lives of close family members during ethnic clashes in the Upper East Region.
On the night of 7th January, 2017, at about 10:00 p.m., violence erupted in Mogonori Zuguza, a community in the Bawku area, amid renewed hostilities between the Kussasi and Manprusi ethnic groups.
According to family accounts, unknown attackers had set out to burn a member of the Manprusi community alive in the midst of the chaos.
In an attempt to prevent the killing, Ismail Suguzi, father of Abdul Aziz Ismail, reportedly intervened and stopped the assailants.
Later that same night, armed men were said to have stormed the family’s residence and opened fire indiscriminately.
During the attack, Ismail Suguzi was shot dead, while his son, Mumuni Somalia, was also killed in the same incident.
Abdul Aziz Ismail himself was seriously wounded during the violence. He was reportedly stabbed multiple times in the neck and stomach, sustaining life-threatening injuries that left him fighting for survival.
Due to the volatile security situation at the time, family members secretly moved him to an undisclosed medical facility, where he received emergency treatment under tight protection to prevent further attacks.
The incident left the family shattered and displaced, adding to the long list of lives and livelihoods destroyed by the enduring Bawku conflict.
Years after the deadly episode, the pain of the loss remains fresh for Abdul Aziz Ismail and his family, who say justice has yet to be fully served for the lives lost.
The story of Abdul Aziz Ismail stands as a stark reminder of the human cost of ethnic and communal violence in Ghana. It underscores the urgent need for sustained peace-building efforts, reconciliation, and stronger security interventions in conflict-prone areas.
As calls for lasting peace in Bawku continue, survivors like Abdul Aziz Ismail serve as living testimony to the resilience of victims and the pressing responsibility of the state to protect lives, ensure accountability, and prevent a recurrence of such tragic violence.
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