Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery is recommending the establishment of a committee to address the land disputes at Nkwanta in the Oti Region.
A curfew is currently in effect in the area following a recent disturbance that resulted in 11 fatalities.
MP for Nkwanta South, Geoffrey Kini, delivered a statement in Parliament urging the Interior Minister and Parliament to intervene in resolving the conflict.
He urged the people of Nkwanta South to help maintain peace.
“…We in Nkwanta South cannot afford to continue to be at each other’s throats when our very lives are being destroyed. I wish to indicate that any individual or group of persons who persist in ignoring the national call and continue to wreak havoc on the area must be decisively and comprehensively dealt with according to the law so that they do not hold the people of the area to ransom,” he said.
In response, Interior Minister Ambrose Dery argued that addressing the underlying land dispute is one of the most effective ways to end the conflict.
Therefore, he recommends the formation of a committee, including the land committee, to resolve the dispute.
“We will be sending NADMO to go to the area to find out what we can do to ameliorate the situation. Mr Speaker, I want to work with my colleagues, with the REGSEG. Let us set up a committee – I want the Lands Commission to be involved – that will do something about the underlying land conflict,” he said on the floor.
About 11 people have been killed in the area since last month following renewed clashes between Adele, Challa and Akyode ethnic groups.
Several houses and properties have also been destroyed.
Source: Myjoyonline.com