Suspected reprisal attacks claim two lives In Agogo area
Two persons have been shot dead in what can be described as a reprisal attack in and around the Afram Plains area in the Ashanti Region.
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In the two incidents, a nomadic herdsman who is yet to be identified was killed at Salamkurom in the Kumawu District, while a 35-year-old man, Kwame Ofiri, was killed at Kowereso, near Agogo in the Asante Akyem North District, both in the Ashanti Region.
Two other residents of Kowereso who sustained gunshot wounds are currently receiving treatment at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital.
They have been identified as Kofi Amoako, 50, who was shot in the legs, and Yaw Yakubu, 63, who was shot in the thighs and hand.
Attacks
The nomadic herdsman was allegedly killed by residents of Salamkurom who were responding to a distress call by a 63-year-old resident of the town, Mr Yakubu Prampugi, who came under attack from some herdsmen last Friday.
However, about 1 a.m. last Saturday, Ofiri was shot dead by some marauding nomadic herdsmen who had attacked the Kowereso community.
The Kowereso attack resulted in two other men sustaining gunshot wounds.
Police confirmation
Confirming the incidents to the Daily Graphic, the Konongo Divisional Police Commander, Superintendent of Police Mr Ohene Boadi Bossman, said in the first incident, a Fulani herdsman attacked Prampugi at Salamkurom, near Kumawu, last Friday.
He said the nomadic herdsmen asked that Prampugi, who was asleep in his room, open the door.
Mr Bossman said Prampugi was hit in the ribs by the bullet fired by one of the nomadic herdsmen when he refused to open the door.
He said neighbours who responded to the distress call by Prampugi also shot at the assailants, resulting in the death of one of the nomadic herdsmen.
In respect of the second incident, he said about 1 a.m. last Saturday, armed men suspected to be nomadic herdsmen on motorbikes attacked residents of Kowereso and shot three persons.
He said one of the three persons, Ofiri, gave up the ghost when he was rushed to the Agogo Presby Hospital, while Amoako and Yakubu were still on admission receiving treatment
Mr Bossman said no arrest had been made, while the police had intensified patrols in the area to avert further attacks.
Second attack
This is the second attack on the residents in less than a month in what could be described as reprisal attacks by the Fulani herdsmen who have been driven away from the area.
Late last month, a similar attack occurred at Abrewanko, a farming community, where two brothers, Mustapha Ibrahim and Haruna Baara, were shot to death by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
That attack prompted the District Security Committee (DISEC) of the area to call for an emergency meeting to find ways to curb the violent attacks in the area.
Agogo residents have been on a collision course with nomadic herdsmen in the area.
The residents claim that the herdsmen and their cattle have been destroying their farms and crops, as well as engaging in criminal activities such as rape and armed robbery.