The Head of the Fulani community in Ghana, Sheik Osman Barry, has described as unlawful and a breach of ECOWAS’ protocol of free movement, the ongoing operation to flush out Fulani herdsmen and their cattle from the Eastern and Ashanti regions, respectively.

Some 200 joint police and military personnel have been deployed to the Asante Akyem North and Sekyere Afram Plains districts in response to recent attacks on residents and security personnel in the area by Fulani herdsmen.

Reacting to the development, Sheik Barry said the exercise is a breach of the rights of the herdsmen.

“The way things are going, it’s unconstitutional in the first place. It is also a clear flouting of the international convention, clear flouting of the regional protocols for the free movement of persons…so, unless there is some other explanation or interpretation given to those conventions and agreements and protocols, then we can’t understand [this exercise], he told Accra-based Joy FM.

The 200 joint military and police personnel including officers from the Air Force, have been given the mandate to push back the herdsmen from new areas they have occupied, arrest perpetrators of recent acts of violence for prosecution and augment the efforts of Operation Cowleg, an ongoing security operation aimed at dealing with the operations of the herdsmen in the area.