The number of persons being arrested for gunrunning in the Northern parts of the country is on the ascendency.
It is a worrying trend which calls for in-depth analysis and immediate action.
Given the restive nature of Burkina Faso and our proximity to that country, local security managers should be concerned about the development.
Who are the suspects and how did they come by the unregistered firearms, some of them sophisticated?
It would be important to determine what the firearms are intended for, and how they were able to evade the checks at the borders.
Even when the borders were officially closed, the gunrunners were active, the arrest of many a clear evidence. Now that the frontiers are open, the coast is clear for them to do even more in terms of gunrunning.
A few weeks ago, one gunrunner was arrested with some pistols, but released after paying the fine slapped upon him in the North East Region. We were wrong when we thought, given the severity of the case, he was definitely going to jail.
In yet another instance of gunrunning, three persons have been arrested by the Northern Regional Police Command with weapons at Kukuabila near Nasia in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region.
The suspects, Amadu Alhassan, a native of Tamale, Atito Godstime and Seidu Ado Bala, both Nigerian nationals, were arrested with a loaded Ak47 rifle, a foreign-made pistol and ammunition concealed in the vehicle that they were traveling in.
An assault rifle and a foreign pistol in the possession of non-state actors, two of them, is a serious issue providing food for pondering by both our security personnel and their civilian compatriots.
The suspects reportedly mentioned the names of some persons they claimed were linked to the case.
A clear case of national security value is unfolding each time sophisticated weapons are found in the possession of non-state actors up in the North.
With armed robbers now hardly wielding locally made firearms, the sources of the more sophisticated weapons must be found out and tackled head-on.
The subject might not have reached a crescendo but we cannot tell for how long we shall remain lucky as the number of gunrunners rises and close to our border with Burkina Faso.
Small arms which are the weapons being seized from the gunrunners in the North by and large constitute the bulk of firearms used for armed robbery and during the recent clashes in our conflict hotspots.
This subject coincides with the appointment of a new Executive Secretary for the National Commission for Small Arms and Light Weapons in the person of Ms Afi Yakubu, a lady with an undeniable wealth of experience in this subject.
We have no doubt in our minds that she knows what to do under the circumstances.
Her engagement with the security agencies – the military and the Ghana Immigration Service especially, local residents living along the country’s frontiers would be a necessary first step.