Garu Massacre: Four Slain in Brutal Gun Attack on NHIA Office, Including Headteacher and Chief; Police Launch Manhunt
The Upper East Regional Police Command has launched a full-scale investigation into a brazen daytime shooting at the Garu District National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) office that claimed four lives and injured five others, plunging the peaceful township into terror and grief.
The attack, which unfolded around 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 20, saw four masked gunmen on two motorbikes unleash a hail of bullets, targeting civilians indiscriminately before fleeing toward the Kugri/Songo road.
Eyewitnesses described a scene of pandemonium as the assailants, clad in smocks, helmets, and face masks, stormed the NHIA premises and opened fire, killing two on the spot—one an NHIA staffer inside the office and another outside.
The gunmen then pursued fleeing residents and schoolchildren toward the adjacent Garu G/A Primary School, fatally shooting headmaster Yahaya Bukari as he herded pupils to safety.
A local chief from Werichengo and a mentally unstable bystander were the other victims, with the chief killed while attempting to intervene.
The injured, suffering gunshot wounds, were rushed to Garu Presbyterian Hospital, where sources confirmed the casualties amid chaotic scenes of children scattering and teachers barricading classrooms.
Police recovered spent cartridges for forensic analysis and heightened security in the area, with Garu MP Edward Adombila calling for calm while decrying the “barbaric act” and demanding swift arrests.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the police vowed to “track down and arrest the perpetrators to face justice,” with no motive yet identified but suspicions of targeted killings amid regional tensions.
The incident evokes the May 2025 assassination of Bongo NHIA Director Mohammed Seidu Akugri, shot and burned near Bolgatanga, raising alarms over threats to public officials in the north.
Garu District Chief Executive John Abaare confirmed the victims’ identities, while community leaders like former Presiding Member Edward Ndebugri expressed shock in a “generally peaceful” area plagued by underdevelopment.
As the bodies were released for burial, residents urged enhanced security, fearing spillover from cross-border banditry or local feuds in this Burkina Faso-border enclave.
