Women in Bawku have voiced their anguish over the escalating violence and loss of lives in the Upper East Region’s protracted chieftaincy conflict, which has claimed over 20 lives in the past six days, according to residents.

Aggrieved women took to the streets on Tuesday, burning tyres and demanding urgent intervention from stakeholders to end the bloodshed that has upended their lives.

“We are suffering,” some women lamented. “Our husbands, children, and the future are being killed every day. We cannot go to our farms, our children cannot go to school, and pregnant women cannot access health facilities.”

The violence, which reignited on Thursday night, October 24, reportedly began following the return of a newly enskinned chief, whose position remains contested by factions in the area.

The recent surge in violence also involved the tragic killing of an 11-year-old girl and an ambush on the Bolgatanga-Tamale Highway by unidentified gunmen, who killed eight travellers and set vehicles ablaze.

Following the unrest, the government has imposed a curfew and deployed additional security forces. Public facilities, including schools and healthcare centres, have shut down, halting essential services, while markets and shops remain deserted as residents flee the town.

In a show of protest, youth in Bawku locked the Municipal Assembly offices on Monday, demanding government intervention within 24 hours.

Despite intensified security efforts, officials, including Bawku’s Municipal Chief Executive Hamza Amadu, have yet to publicly address the situation. Reliable sources estimate that over 200 lives have been lost since the conflict resurfaced in 2021, with residents fearing that the violence will continue unless meaningful action is taken.