Elephants destroy maize and cotton farms in communities in Sissala East District

Stray elephants have destroyed cotton and maize farms at Hiel and Jeffissi in the Sissala West District of the Upper West region.

An opinion leader and chief farmer of the Jeffissi Kasim Sulemana, who confirmed the incident to ultimatefmonline.com, said “we went to our farms this morning and realised that they have destroyed almost everything. I was traveling to a neighbouring community when my attention was drawn and on reaching the farm, I realized that my crops have been destroyed”

He disclosed that his colleagues who have also cultivated cotton had their farms destroyed by the elephants but are scared to get closer because the animals could be dangerous.

The opinion leader is calling on authorities of Game and Wildlife to come to their rescue indicating that residents now feel unsafe in the two communities.

It would be recalled that last Thursday 10 elephants were reported to have invaded the farming communities of Hiel and Jeffissi in the Sissala West District.

The animals believed to have come from a forested area in neighboring Burkina Faso, were reportedly heading to Hiel from Jeffissi.

“It is true that……The elephants were spotted at about midday heading to Hiel. We believe they came from Burkina Faso which is close, but I cannot tell you exactly where they are coming from. They have not destroyed anything even though we were scared they will wreak havoc in the communities”, he disclosed on Thursday.

This is not the first time elephants have invaded communities in Sissala districts of the Upper West Region.

It would be recalled that elephants a few years ago invaded some farms in the Sissala area of the Wa East District and destroyed crops that were ready to be harvested. The animals destroyed all crops especially cassava and yams on a 20-acre farmland