Wuru Residents Demand Release of Abducted Youth Leader, Justice for Trader Killed Near Burkina Faso Border

Residents of Wuru, a border community in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region, are calling for the immediate release of youth leader and former assemblyman aspirant, Sadat Ibrahim, who is believed to have been abducted in neighbouring Burkina Faso.

The community is also demanding justice for another resident, a livestock trader popularly known as Akorugu, who was shot dead near the Ghana–Burkina Faso border last month.

Speaking in interviews with journalists, residents said insecurity along the border has worsened since December last year, following the arrest and detention of Burkinabè soldiers by Ghana Immigration and military personnel in Tumu.

According to residents, Sadat Ibrahim went missing on March 4, 2026, after travelling to Kounou, a border town in Burkina Faso near Wuru, to seek medical care for a relative.

A relative who accompanied him said Ibrahim stepped out briefly while they were waiting at a hospital.

“He took me to the hospital and stepped out while I was in the queue waiting to be attended to, but after several hours he did not return. Up to now, I do not know his whereabouts,” the relative said.

Residents claim Ibrahim was later accused of playing a role in Ghana’s “See Something, Say Something” campaign by allegedly providing information to Ghanaian security agencies that led to the arrest of 17 armed Burkinabè soldiers who were reportedly occupying Ghanaian territory illegally.

Another relative said he returned to the hospital the following morning and saw one of the Burkinabè security officers sitting on Ibrahim’s motorbike while speaking with a doctor.

Residents believe the accusations may have contributed to his alleged abduction and are appealing for his immediate release.

“After the Burkinabè soldiers were arrested, they accused my brother and threatened to deal with him anytime he entered their territory. We are pleading with whoever is holding him to release him,” one resident said.

The community is also demanding justice for Akorugu, the livestock trader whose body was discovered on February 15, 2026, along the road between the Ghanaian community of Kulmasa and Pien, a border village in Burkina Faso.

Residents said the trader’s body was found with multiple bullet wounds.

According to them, Burkinabè security personnel who later transported the body alleged that Akorugu had been supplying fuel, food, medical supplies and other logistics to militants of the rebel group JNIM (Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin), believed to be operating from the Nazinga Forest in Burkina Faso.

However, residents have strongly rejected the claim, insisting that the deceased was a well-known livestock trader who frequently travelled across the border for business.

The Assemblyman for the Kunchokor–Wuru Electoral Area also expressed surprise at the allegations, noting that the trader was widely known for selling animals in markets across the border.

Residents say the two incidents have heightened fear among people in Wuru and surrounding communities, where many rely on cross-border trade and movement for their livelihoods.

They are therefore calling on the Ghanaian government and security agencies to engage Burkinabè authorities to ensure justice for the deceased and intensify diplomatic efforts to secure the release of Sadat Ibrahim.

Officials at the Sissala East District Assembly say diplomatic efforts are currently underway to locate and secure the release of the missing youth leader, although his whereabouts remain unknown.

Attempts to obtain comments from Burkinabè authorities in the Bieha Department and Sissili Province were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.