Agogo Youth Angry With National Security

AGOGO YOUTH in the Asante Akim North district of the Ashanti region have flatly denied media reports that Fulani herdsmen plying their trade in the area have been evicted. Reports in a section of the media claimed that the security personnel detailed to Agogo to oversee the expulsion of Fulani herdsmen from the area had succeeded in carrying out their mission. In a telephone interview, Alfred Gyima, secretary of the Agogo Youth Association, categorically repudiated the media reports, insisting that the Fulani herdsmen were still in the area. He said the security personnel deliberately sent a team of media personnel to an area the Fulani herdsmen used to occupy and concocted the publication that they had been evicted. The secretary indicated that the media personnel carried the story because they were not conversant with the area and therefore did not know that the area they were reporting from was an old site of the Fulani herdsmen. Mr. Gyima said the security personnel had expelled the Fulani herdsmen from areas such as Mankaila, Abrewapun and others they used to occupy to Asumaso No II in the same traditional area. �If you drive the Fulani herdsmen from one location to another within the same area, can you say that you have succeeded in driving them away when the demand is that get them away completely from the area?� the secretary asked. Mr. Gyima expressed disappointment in the security personnel, stressing that since they arrived in the area almost two weeks ago, they had failed to work in unison with the residents of the town. According to him, the residents expected the security personnel to work closely with them for the reason that they were the natives of the area and therefore knew the various operational areas of the Fulani herdsmen. The secretary pointed out that they were particularly disappointed in the security personnel because their modes of operation were not helping efforts aimed at expelling the Fulani herdsmen from the area. �Because they used loud siren to announce their presence, the Fulani herdsmen always get prior notice from their people in town and therefore drive their cattle from the target area,� Mr. Gyima stated. Indicating that they had lost confidence in the security personnel, the secretary entreated the government to withdraw them from the area as soon as possible to save cost. He said they were ready to take their destiny into their hands by driving the Fulani herdsmen from the area because they had realized that the security personnel were not committed in discharging that duty. Mr. Gyima therefore enjoined the public to treat the publication that the Fulani herdsmen had been evicted from Agogo with the contempt it deserved, reiterating that the people were still operating in the area.