Fulani herdsmen kill two farmers at Agogo
There is a growing concern about insecurity among residents of Agogo and its surrounding villages following the killing of two Sissala resident farmers at Abrewanko last Friday.
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The two were gunned down by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen while on their farm. Abrewanko is one of the communities in the Asante Akim North district in the Ashanti region.
The deceased who were farmers, were said to be fetching water on a farm when they were shot. One was shot in the abdomen while the other, in the chest.
The bodies of 21 year old Mustapha Ibrahim and his elder brother, Haruna Baara, 36, were found on the farms by residents and have since been deposited at Agogo Presbyterian Hospital mortuary.
The area has been volatile in recent times following the ultimatum given to the Regional Security Council and the traditional authority by the youth in the area to get rid of the fulani herdsmen and their cattle.
The youth have also called on the residents to kill any cattle seen on their farms.
The residents, have over the years, complained about the presence and activities of the Fulani herdsmen in the area, who they accused of destroying their crops, water bodies and also raping their women and killing the men.
The killing of the two on Friday prompted the District Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on Saturday to devise ways of curbing the spate of violence in the area.
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The District Chief Executive of the area, Mr Paul Kingsley Arweh- Avru believed that act might have been a reprisal attack from the Fulani herdsmen who have been driven away from the area.
He said most of the nomadic herdsmen have been driven away and some of them were peeved because they lost their cattle during the operation to get them out and would want to take revenge on the people.
According to him, the security picked up intelligence that some of them were "hunting for people to cause harm. They have come back without their cattle to cause harm to people, to avenge for whatever loss they have incurred."
"The dynamics have now changed from cattle and fulani people using cattle to graze on our farms, setting farms on fire and pointing guns at us for their animals to feed," he said, adding, "that is the new operation we are confronted with."
He said what was happening was not related to the earlier problem of cattle and herdsmen but "armed robbers, wicked people and murderers wanting to cause mayhem and that is what we have to address."
According to him, the incident happened on the blind side of the security although it picked up information to that effect.
The meeting therefore, was to affirm the decisions taken earlier to address them.
The Divisional Commander of Police, Superintendent of police, Mr Ohene Boadi Bossman, said the police would intensify its investigations and surveillance into the nearby communities to fish out the perpetrators.
He has, however, assured the residents to remain calm as security has been put on high alert.