Agogo residents demonstrate over Fulani herdsmen
A large number of residents of Agogo and its environs yesterday took to the streets of the ancient town to demonstrate against what they called the deliberate refusal of the state to protect them against the menace of Fulani herdsmen.
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Wearing her war dress, the bespectacled Agogomanhemaa, Nana Serwaa Afrakomaa Kisi, led the peaceful demonstration from the main lorry station to the Russia Park to state their case, especially the killing of more than 50 residents by Fulanis over the years.
The demonstrators were joined by traditional leaders, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Agyemang, the Catholic priest of Agogo and traditional priests.
Singing war songs, some of the demonstrators threatened to take the law into their own hands to defend their land, their farms and their wives against armed Fulani herdsmen.
Fear
They also threatened to use all available means to secure their lives and sources of livelihood if the state failed to protect them.
Some of the demonstrators who spoke to the Daily Graphic wondered why the state had refused to enforce a court ruling which demanded that the Fulanis be evacuated.
They also expressed shock at the fact that even with some security personnel around, the armed Fulanis continued to execute their nefarious activities with impunity.
Richard Bonsu, a resident whose brother was shot by a Fulani a year ago, alleged that the security agencies had not been able to execute the orders of the court because the cattle looked after by the Fulanis belonged to “very powerful people” in the country who considered their cattle more valuable than the lives of the people of Agogo.
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Not even a heavy downpour could stop the determined demonstrators, who included octogenarians, from walking through the town, carrying placards some of which had pictures of their dead relatives.
Some of the people who had been injured through Fulani attacks also joined the demonstration, while others who had fallen victim to the activities of the Fulanis took turns to narrate their harrowing experiences to the media.
Statement
Reading a joint statement issued by the Agogo Youth Association, the Agogo Traditional Council, the Agogo Mma Kuo in Accra and the Agogo Worldwide Association, Mr Baah-Agyemang said they had resorted to lawful means and instituted legal actions against those “marauding Fulani herdsmen on our land” but the people were still at the receiving end.
He said the matter was ruled in favour of those associations by the Kumasi High Court on January 20, 2012 but unfortunately the state had failed to execute the orders of the court, leading to the herdsmen becoming more empowered to terrorise the people.
The MP said another surprising aspect was how the bigwigs of the security agencies in the country drove from Accra to Agogo to make beautiful speeches, after which a detachment of security personnel was stationed in Agogo.
He explained that whereas the Fulanis and their cattle were in the bush ravaging farms in the night, the security personnel went to the farming areas during the day and even stayed on the main roads.
“Our discreet inquiries show that the security personnel are even under strict instructions to protect the Fulanis and their cattle. Even in the few instances that they met the Fulanis and their cattle, they did selective evacuation,” he alleged.
He described some of the Fulanis as untouchable, adding that “this is just a rehearsal of the first Operation Cow Leg that yielded no result in 2012”.
The MP wondered why the state, through the district assembly, would be spending a whopping GH¢99,000 each month on security personnel, an amount that could be used to develop the area.