Five persons alleged to have killed cattle belonging to Fulani herdsmen in Agogo in the Ashanti Region, have been remanded in Police custody by the Asante Akyem North District Magistrate court.<\/p>\n
According to the prosecutor, the five allegedly attacked a\u00a0herdsman because he refused to show up in court as a witness in the recent incident\u00a0of disturbances\u00a0in the area.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”OsTGOSXVHWkdGHUWzcsqifcByQV049YL”]The\u00a0Member of Parliament for the Asante Akyem North Constituency, Kwadwo Baah Agyemang, expressed disappointment at the decision of the police to prosecute the people of Agogo.<\/p>\n
MP angry at Police over arrest<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI am very shocked about this development because the people were not caught killing the cattle. The Police met them on the way holding guns and accosted them and accused them of going for a cattle shootout.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u00a0argued that the Police should have cautioned the five persons the first time they were spotted with guns instead of arresting and processing them for court.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do they want to achieve? Do they want to cause more mayhem in the area? I don\u2019t get it,\u201d the MP stated.<\/p>\n Police intimidating residents\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The MP said, “It is a sign of intimidating the people from defending themselves. What I know is that, people go to the farm preparing to defend themselves when they are being attacked. And if the Police can\u2019t protect them why do they harass and victimize them? It will be a security threat in the constituency.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile the case has been adjourned to March 1, 2016.<\/p>\n Background:<\/strong><\/p>\n Residents of Agogo have accused the nomadic herdsmen of destroying their crops and also, raping and killing their relatives.<\/p>\n They have thus vowed to take on the herdsmen after a farmer was allegedly shot and killed by one of the Fulanis.<\/p>\n The residents have repeatedly accused government of failing to act on a court order three years ago that recommended the eviction of the Fulanis.<\/p>\n A\u00a0special joint taskforce of military and Police personnel had earlier been dispatched to Agogo to evict\u00a0the Fulani herdsmen from the area, but the government has given a new deadline of March to do so.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n