General News of Wednesday, 10 January 2018

Source: ghananewsagency.org

Agogo youth demand forcible eviction of Fulani herdsmen

Angry Agogo Youth during a protest against Fulani herdsmen Angry Agogo Youth during a protest against Fulani herdsmen

The Agogo Youth Association has called for the government to move quickly to forcibly evict Fulani herdsmen and their animals from the Agogo portion of the Afram Plains to forestall any further bloodshed.

They said the herdsmen had crossed all red lines and the expectation was that the coercive powers of the state would be used to throw them out.

A press statement signed by Mr. Emmanuel Asare Kwakye, President of the Association, in Agogo said anything short of that could force the people to take matters into their own hands, to protect themselves and their investment.

The call comes on the heels of the ambush and shooting of three soldiers and a police officer by suspected Fulani herdsmen near Aberewapon in the Asante-Akim North District.

The injured officers are part of a combined team of military and police personnel detailed to maintain law and order in the area amid rising tension between the herdsmen and the local population over the destruction of farms and water bodies by herds of cattle.

One of the three injured officers was treated and discharged by the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital and the remaining transferred to the 37 Military Hospital for treatment.

The statement said the people had had enough of the atrocities of the Fulani and could no longer tolerate the lawlessness and impunity.



It added that it was time the order to evict the herdsmen by a Kumasi High Court in 2012, was enforced.

The association said the people of Agogo had run out of patience with the herdsmen and their cruelty and warned that they were ready to violently clash with them should the authorities “fail to act and to act fast”.