Aspiring NPP General Secretary, Captain Nkrabeah Effah Dartey (Rtd) is calling on party supporters not to be intimidated by yesterday’s attacks on nine party members in Tamale.

Speaking to journalists after a visit to victims of the attack, Friday, Captain Effah Dartey noted "let it be known to all that times are changing. The rules of the game now seem to invite fire-for-fire, but this politics of intimidation and violence must stop before it is met with equal or somehow more brutal form of its kind".

According to him, members of the NPP should see the attack as a wake-up call for them to defend themselves since it is evident "in our politics that it is dangerous to play it safe".

"We cannot sit back and take the bullets and be regarded as cowards", retired army officer said.

He said the party needs proactive and courageous leaders that can defend the NPP appropriately and lead it to victory, come the 2016 general elections.

In this regard, he assured members of the party that he will ensure the safety of the lives of all NPP members, when he is elected General Secretary at the pending national delegates' conference of the party to be held in the Northern regional capital, Tamale.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on NPP activists at Aboabo in Tamale, Thursday, April 10, 2014, while they were partying. The gunmen were said to be in an unregistered taxi and two others on a motorbike.

The nine victims, who suffered various degrees of injury are receiving treatment at the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

Meanwhile, the police are still hunting for the men behind the shooting incident.

Northern region police say they have beefed up security in the Tamale metropolis, especially at areas where party leaders, delegates and other party members are lodging to guarantee their safety.

According to the Public Relations Officier (PRO) for the Northern Region Police, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh,  the whole of the Tamale metropolis will be "saturated" with police presence, adding that about 1,200 police personnel will be present during the NPP conference in Tamale

The Northern regional PRO further noted that military presence will also be felt throughout the metropolis.