Over 20 herdsmen arrested with guns and ammunitions granted bail
Some 26 herdsmen arrested by the Police Anti-Armed Robbery Team for unlawful possession of weapons have been granted bail by the Koforidua Circuit Court.
The accused persons who have been provisionally charged with unlawful possession of weapons were granted bail in the sum of GHC100,000 with two sureties each.
The facts presented in court were that on August 29, 2021, at about 1:00 pm, the Anti Robbery operational team at Donkorkrom led by DSP Lovelace Kofi Glago in a joint exercise with personnel from the Donkorkrom Division and District upon tip-off intercepted and arrested the suspects.
They were on board a Toyota Tacoma pick-up with registration number AW 983-20, Ford Pick Up with registration number GE 7066-11, and motor tricycle with registration number M-21-EN 635.
The prosecution said the task force retrieved one foreign pistol, three locally manufactured pistols, four single-barrel shotguns, 66 live AAA and BB cartridges, eleven 410 cartridges, ten 7.65mm ammunition,17 machetes, and two daggers.
A search was extended to the rooms of suspect Iddrisu Sambo and Issaka Ali at Donkorkrom Zongo, 12 BB cartridges were found.
None of the accused persons was able to produce documents on the weapons and ammunition.
The case has been adjourned to September 20, 2021.
A tragic history
The last decade in the Eastern Region is littered with many examples of volatility between locals and nomadic herdsmen.
Last year, five herdsmen sustained severe machete wounds after they engaged in a brutal machete fight with locals at Akateng, a community near Asesewa in the Eastern Region.
Confirming the incident to theghanareport.com, the Deputy Public Relations Officer of the Eastern Regional Police command, Sergeant Francis Gomado, said a misunderstanding broke out in the community leading to the brutal fight.
Four victims have been identified as Omaru Ali, 25; Bello Aliu, 24; Omaru Ali, 25, and Mohamadu Moro, 28 suffered various cutlasses wounds.
In 2020 too, farmers in the Affram Plains petitioned then Inspector General of Police (IGP), James Oppong Boanuh, and the National Security Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah, to intervene with urgency.
According to them, the failure of the security agencies to intervene would compel them to invade the bushes to kill all the cattle and force the herdsmen out of the community.
Reports suggested that some farmers in Aframso community had planned to launch devastating attacks on Fulani herdsmen who were equally armed to the teeth.