Police are to remain at Nandom in the Upper West region after clashes between two Muslim factions left two people with machete wounds.

District Chief Executive for the area, Aasoglenang Thaddeus Arkum told Joy News’ Gifty Andoh Appiah that the decision was arrived at after an emergency District Security Council (DISEC) meeting.

“Currently, the immediate measures we are taking is to get the police stationed at vantage points where these youth meet so that they will know that they [police] are around and then we can forestall peace for now,” he said.

Reports say the Thursday clashes started when one of the feuding factions marched to prevent a marriage ceremony involving their daughter, who is going to marry a member of a rival faction.

The two factions are said to have been feuding for the past two years because of the selection of a leader for the Nandom central mosque.

Nandom District Police Commander, ASP John Opare, had to call for reinforcement to calm tensions.

But in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story, the DCE said the reasons for the clashes had nothing to do with the appointment of a leader, but rather the marriage.

“It was a spontaneous action between two youth from different tribes,” he said stressing that the confirmation came up during a meeting with elders of the area.

Mr Arkum said arrests are yet to be made but discussions are ongoing with the elders and youth of the town to allow peace to prevail.

“After that we can come out with a team that both sides will be willing to speak to and then we will find a way forward,” he added.

The DCE said a committee will be set up to investigate the occurrences if the need arises.

He assured that anyone found culpable after investigations will be dealt with in accordance with the law.

But a security expert is not impressed with the manner in which security agencies have handled the issue.

Adams Bonaa is surprised that the situation got to a point where there were clashes before the police and Bureau for National Investigation (BNI) showed up there.

“Somehow some of us picked this information up 48 hours before this issue started evolving. So I was expecting that probably of the BNI within the region were up to the task, they would have been able to advise the police and worked jointly with them to ensure that peace prevails during the Eid celebrations.”

Most importantly, the police and BNI must get to the bottom of the current clash and ensure that “anyone who took part in this attack gets punished to serve as a deterrent for generations to come.”

Going forward, however, he expects more dialogue between the feuding factions to ensure that the issue does not turn bloodier than they’ve already been.