Communities Cry For Help Over Invasion By Herdsmen And Cattle

Seven farming communities in the Sekyere Central District, which have come under massive invasion by Fulani herdsmen and their cattle fleeing from Agogo and Drobonso, have appealed for strong physical presence of soldiers and the police to drive them away.

Nana Kwadwo Fordwour, Odikro (community head) of Nkudwua, said the herdsmen and their animals had over the last few days kept pouring in as the joint military/police operation to evict them from the Agogo portion of the Afram Plains got underway.

He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the people in the predominantly farming communities of Nkudwua, Gariba, Mantukwa, Didaso, Aframso and Asare-Nkwanta were now living in total fear.

He said the situation was not looking good and that there was real panic among the local population with many of them afraid to go to their farms.

He indicated that any delay or inaction by the authorities would leave their food crop farms completely ravaged by the herdsmen and their cattle.

Mr. Kwadwo Banahene Bediako, the District Chief Executive (DCE), confirmed receiving information about the influx of the herdsmen and said they would be tackled.

The alien herdsmen have over the years been accused of atrocities – killing, maiming, raping women and destroying farms and water bodies.

This has resulted in decades of tension between them and crop farmers, and matters came to a head, when some unidentified people, suspected to be Fulani, shot at and wounded three soldiers and a police officer in an ambush.

The officers were part of a military/police taskforce detailed to maintain law and order in Agogo to prevent what was already a bad situation from escalating.

The Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) in a swift response to the shooting incident is now enforcing a Kumasi High Court ruling, ordering the Council to forcibly remove the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle from Agogo lands.

Relatedly, the chiefs and people Drobonso, have declared war on the alien herdsmen – vowed to evict them from the place.

This comes on the heels of the gunning down of two police officers by a gang of robbers, believed to be Fulani. One other officer suffered severe gunshot wounds.

Source: GNA