The Eastern regional Police Commander DCOP Awuntubuge Awuni has charged security officers in the region to shoot and kill the cattle of recalcitrant Fulani herdsmen who have migrated to the area.
He gave the directive during the launch of 'operation cow leg’ meant to flush out Fulanis in the region Monday.
"I will not take any casualty on behalf of the security personnel who are going there. If there should be a casualty, it must be them. I don’t want you to come with one of you missing, you are not by this directed to fire indiscriminately but my instruction is that you have every right to defend yourself when you come under attack. And my instruction is that; gun down the cows who will be directed to you" he said.
120 security Personnel made up of the military, Police and Immigration were on Monday deployed to some areas of the region believed to be terrorized by the nomads.
The month long operation covers areas such as Fanteakwa, Upper Manya krobo, Kwahu Affram Plains South, Kwahu Affram Plains North, Kwahu East and Dokokrom all in the Eastern region.
For his part, the outgoing Eastern regional Minister Antwi Bosiako Sekyere said the Fulani menace is becoming a major concern in the region and must be dealt with immediately.
“Once again, the nefarious activities of the Nomads are here with us in the Eastern region. Apart from their activities of grazing their cattle on farm land and forest reserves, the herdsmen are also alleged to be into all sorts of crimes including armed robbery, rape, Stealing, burning of farms and worst of it all, killing of farmers”.
He said the regional Security Council wants to be more proactive this time in preventing the escalation of clashes between herdsmen and farmers in the area as it happened in previous years.
