SPARE THE NATION THE AGONY

FOR some time now there has been the perception that the internecine and protracted violent conflict in the Bawku area is being fanned by the educated class and the moneyed men from the area.
But some people have all along dismissed this perception as not being the reality on the ground.
However, the arrest of Mr John Awunbila Ndego, the assistant bursar of the Bawku Senior High School and advisor of the Bawku Naba, has proved that there is an iota of truth in that perception.
Ndego was found carrying two AK 47 assault rifles, a pistol and 153 rounds of ammunition.
The cost of one AK 47 assault rifle is in the range of thousands of dollars and an ordinary person in Bawku cannot afford the amount to purchase a rifle to fight a conflict which will not bring any direct benefit to him.
For most people in Bawku, like others in many of our towns and villages, to pay their children's school fees and provide three square meals a day are problems they face every now and then.
Many families in such areas are living below the level of subsistence and that is why the government has come out with some interventions such as the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme to help such vulnerable groups.
Ordinarily, since most of them depend on daily economic activities like petty trading and subsistence farming for their livelihood, one would expect that the ordinary people of Bawku would wish that peace prevailed so that they could safely and peacefully go about their daily activities.
Since the conflict broke out, Bawku and its environs have been placed under curfew, making it impossible for people to effectively carry out their day-to-day activities.
The markets, government departments, the banks and other business enterprises were all closed down and up till now some of them have not opened for normal business.
According to Togolese government officials and the United Nations High Commission for Refugess (UNHCR), large numbers of our people are fleeing the conflict in Bawku and are creating a humanitarian problem for the Togolese authorities.
Hundreds of people, including old men, women and children caught up in the conflict, are fleeing to seek refuge in northern Togo.
Why should this happen to our brothers and sisters in Bawku? Is it because of greed among some people in the Bawku area that this protracted conflict is creating a humanitarian crisis for us and our neighbours in Togo? It's about time those who are fanning the crisis in Bawku realised that they are creating a problem not only for the Bawku people but also all of us.
The economic cost of the conflict to the country is becoming too much. The amount of money the government spends in deploying and keeping the police and the military in the conflict area is huge and this, we are sure, is taking its toll on the economy. Those who are fanning the conflict in Bawku should stop and spare the nation the agony.