Asubuasu residents protest against activities of Fulani herdsmen

Residents of Asubuasu in the Sekyere Central District of Ashanti region have embarked on a demonstration against the activities of Fulani herdsmen in their community and called on Mampong Regional Police Command and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare to intervene.

They have also sent SOS to the occupant of the Silver Stool-Mamponghene, Dasebre Nana Osei Bonsu II, to come and bail them out from what they described as atrocities being meted out to the cattle herdsmen who had invaded their area.

Wearing red attires, the residents, who are farmers, protested through the principal streets of Asubuasu with placards, some of which read: “IGP Come and Save Us”,”Release our three colleagues from jail”, among others.

Addressing the media after the protest, leader of the group, George Dapaah, explained that the main work they do to eke out a living is farming, however, the activities of Fulani herdsmen and their cattle are making things difficult for them.

He expressed worry about the posture of the police who do not listen to their plea,but are rather defending the herdsmen,citing the arrest of three of their colleagues as a case in point.

Sharing his ordeal with the media, Mr Dapaah who is a yam farmer, revealed that tubers of yams that he harvested had been destroyed by Fulani herdsmen and their cattle.

“The other day when I went to my farm, the cattle had destroyed the yams that I had harvested,leaving me with nothing.

“I am pleading with the government and other relevant stakeholders to come to our aid and stop these challenges for us to work peacefully”, he said.

Mr Dapaah added that the situation is frightening because women are scared of going to their farms and the men are also afraid.

Touching on an event which has led to the arrest of three members of the community, George Dapaah pleaded with the police to grant bail to their colleagues,arguing that they have not shot or killed a cow, as it was being alleged.

Abena Dufie, another farmer, alleged that the cattle had destroyed their only source of drinking water and that anytime they speak against the Fulani herdsmen and call for their evacuation, some people mount fierce defense for them.
According to the aggrieved woman, Fulani herdsmen have allowed their cattle to drink from a lagoon, which serves as their source of drinking water and rendering the water unwholesome. “They have destroyed our only source of drinking water. Our source of drinking water has been polluted so much so that we have resorted to boiling thewater before drinking,” she said.

Another woman, who gave her name as Ama Boatenmaa, disclosed that pollution of their only source of water by the cattle, supervised by Fulani herdsmen, has led to the demise of a child in the area.

“A tractor has knocked down and killed one of our kids who went in search of water. I have not been to the farm for one week now -we cannot go for food, firewood and this has affected our livelihood”.

She appealed to the authorities to come to their aid because the situation was getting out of hand.

Kwame Osei, a farmer, told the media that the development has affected education of children, since some teachers are moving out of the area.

He added that they are living in fear and their children are scared of going to school. As such, they have to resort to motorbikes to carry the children to school, which is problematic.

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