The Bongo-Soe community in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region has asked Fulani settlers to leave within a month, according to residents and opinion leaders.
As per them, the Fulanis have illicitly occupied parts of their community and don’t bring development and as a result, they must leave within the allotted time or face the repercussions.
The Bongo-Soe Community Association for Development (BONSCAD), which held a press conference on April 6, 2023, stated that the decision was made in response to the recent assault on one of their members by three individuals who were believed to be Fulani.
Vitus Azeem, the former Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) read the petition for the benefit of BONSCAD.
“We would like to make it clear that this is not the first time that Fulani herdsmen have attacked a community member. There were instances in which women were raped, and the community also witnessed the theft of cattle. In addition, Fulani herdsmen were suspected of robbing a Bongo Rural Bank agency and a few mobile money vendors in the village. The community sent a petition to the District Security Committee (DISEC) in June 2021 regarding the Fulani herdsmen’s behavior, but neither the community nor the authorities responded to the petition or took any action.
A copy of the petition was sent to the District Police Command and the Paramount Chief. A reminder was sent to them once more in January 2022, but the community never received even an acknowledgment that the petition had been received.
The youth in the community were provoked by the recent attack, and as a result, they rounded up Fulanis who were freely enjoying the Village market and wanted to molest them. However, the Assemblymen in Bongo-Soe came to their aid and physically restrained the youth from harming them while calling for police protection, he added.
He went on to say that educated Fulanis were living peacefully alongside Ghanaians in other parts of the country, and that “nobody is attacking them.” Without knowing all the facts, these enlightened Fulanis should refrain from making disparaging remarks about what took place in Bongo-Soe.
According to him, “All the young men that were arrested should be released unconditionally and immediately and the prosecution discontinued,” he the, before called for the youth’s immediate release. In addition, the Assembly pays the injured young man’s medical bills and retrieves his motorcycle and mobile phone for him while the police conduct an investigation and apprehend the heinous crime.
In addition, the Fulani herdsmen will leave Bongo Soe in the following month. They are wandering herdsmen who ought not to attempt to establish a permanent residence in Bongo Soe, especially considering that they are attempting to seize our land.
So angry Youth of Bongo Soe attacked some Fulani settlements in the area as retaliation to an earlier attack metered on a member of the community by three men suspected to be Fulani.
The attack led to the burning of some houses belonging to the Fulani herdsmen in the area which led to the arrest of 11 young men from the community.
Confirming the incident to Yem Radio Morning Show in the Upper East region with Godfred Awindenaba, one of the assemblymen of the area Hon. Ataba Philemon started that the man who was attacked by the supposed Fulani men was beaten up and had his Motorbike and Phine seized and also had his leg broken and given a message to tell the community that they will not farm this year
