The Yeji Police Command has arrested 15 people, including an assembly member, suspected to have killed 13 cows belonging to a Fulani man in the Pru District of the Brong Ahafo Region.
Background
At a press briefing, the Brong Ahafo Regional Crime Officer, Superintendent Alhaji Maama Arhin, said the Fulani man, identified as Alhaji Berete, went to Kawase, a village in the Pru District, and sought a parcel of land from the chiefs to graze his cattle.
In addition, he said, the chiefs granted him the land at the outskirts of the village where he had been grazing his cattle for sometime now with assistance from a herdsman he had employed.
Superintendent Arhin said on Saturday, March 14, this year, some youth in the Kawase community mobilised themselves and went to the farm of Alhaji Berete, attacked the animals and killed four in the process.
“They shared the four cows they killed among themselves and also kidnapped the herdsman on the farm,” he said.
According to him, a message got to the chiefs about the incident and they (chiefs) went to the rescue of the kidnapped herdsman and also informed Alhaji Berete about the issue.
The attack
Superintendent Arhin said Alhaji Berete, who stayed at Kintampo, came to the village the next day with his brother, Alhaji Mohammed Musa, which was Sunday, March 15, 2015 to see to the welfare of the herdsman and what had happened to the rest of the cattle.
According to him, as soon as he went to the farm, the youth who had been mobilised by the assembly member got wind of information that he (Alhaji Berete) had come to the town, armed themselves with cutlasses and guns and went to the farm.
“They painted their faces with charcoal so that it will be difficult to identify them and went to the farm at Kawase, and as soon as they saw Alhaji Berete, they started shooting indiscriminately,” he said.
Superintendent Arhin explained that during the shooting, Alhaji Berete was hit by a bullet while nine of the cattle were also killed.
Arrest
“Alhaji Berete was rushed to the Techiman Government Hospital and was later transferred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, but he has now recovered, while the assembly member and the unit committee chairman together with 13 others have been arrested”, Superintendent Arhin stated.
He said the suspects had been processed for court for an attempted murder.
The Pru District Police Commander, District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Abraham Bansah, in an interview, expressed worry about the rampant attacks on people’s cattle in the area and advised the perpetrators to desist from such acts.
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