Government asked to eliminate menace of Fulani herdsmen

Government, security agencies and other stakeholders have been asked to intensify efforts at eliminating the menace of alien Fulani herdsmen in the country.

Mr. Abdul-Rahman Alhassan, chairman of the Northern Cereal Growers, Processors and Marketers Association (NCGPM), made the call at a sensitization workshop for members in Tamale on Friday.

He noted that, the negative activities of the Fulanis had escalated and stressed that the security agencies must act to save human lives and property.

Mr. Alhassan said the Fulani herdsmen were unregulated and engage in cross-border trade in a persistent-militant manner that puts lives and property of people they come across at risk.

Mr. Alhassan said the day’s sensitization workshop was meant to educate participants about the precarious nature of the activities of the herdsmen, and said that agriculture was being negatively affected by activities of the Fulanis'.

He called on the Interior Ministry and its related security institutions to collaborate to enforced rules on the movement of the herdsmen in the country.

Mr Alhassan expressed worry that the herdsmen also engaged in armed robbery and cattle rustling in the region, and said: “When the dry season approaches, women in the Northern region are gripped with fear as rape and elopement are listed among their anti-social activities”.

He said farming, especially cereal cultivation was no more profitable due to activities of the Fulanis.**