Armed men slaughter hundreds of pigs in Bole Bomboi over gold

Armed men believed to be illegal gold scavengers have raided Kiape, a Dagarti village in Bole Bomboi district of the Northern Region and allegedly slaughtered drove of pigs.

The mass killing of the domestic drove occurred on Friday, and traditional leaders and police have refused to investigate the atrocity, a resident, Adrews Derry told a local radio Nkilgi Fm in Bole.

The armed men attacked large and small pens owned by farmers in the community and decimated hundreds of pigs before targeting others loitering in the community.

The attack has dealt a heavy blow to pig farming in the community as over one third of the estimated 600 pigs were killed in the village. Pig farming has been the only dependable source of livelihood for many Dagaartis in the area.

This incident therefore means many pig farmers have been left without any source of livelihood. Many residents in the community live on less than GHC3 a day, underscoring the size and state of poverty among the Dagaartis in the area.

It is not clear why the armed men targeted the pigs but locals believe the attack was carried by illegal gold miners.

Andrews who is a pig farmer in the community said the attackers have been in the community illegally prospecting for gold and viewed the presence of the pigs in the community as jinx impeding their search, and therefore decided to get rid of the animals.

“some people who came to kill the pigs said they are trying to locate gold in the Kiape area but the pigs are preventing them from getting the gold”, he explained.

He said a man who has about 20 flock in his pen woke up to see all the animals hacked and slaughtered.

He condemned the attack and said it will bring hardship to owners who have lost their animals.

He called on government and animal rights activists to intervene and probe the matter.

Andrew Dery claimed the attackers promised to return Monday to “finish the remaining pigs”.

He said the matter has been reported to the chiefs but they denied knowledge and failed to take any step to identify the perpetrators, increasing suspicions of their culpability.