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VIDEO: ‘Save us and our cows’ — Ghanaian herdsmen beg UN

BY Mansur Ibrahim

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The Fulanis in Ghana have called on Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, to intervene in the plight of herdsmen in their country.

At a press conference in Accra on Friday, Osman Barry, national president of the Fulanis in Ghana, rejected the “hostile treatment” being meted to his people.

He expressed displeasure over how violent clashes between local farmers and herdsmen in Ashanti and some regions have resulted in the loss of lives and cows.

Barry appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to intervene in what he described as unwarranted atrocities being meted out to the nomadic Fulani herdsmen.

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He alleged that herdsmen were attacked whenever their cattle destroy farms, while the real owners, including politicians and other influential persons in society, are left off the hook.

“About 1,500 cows estimated at GH¢6 million equivalent to $1.5 million were killed in the last quarter of 2017,” Barry lamented.

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“About 50 Fulanis have lost their lives through cold blood murder, black magic and the practice of ritualism besides the huge number of settlements that were set ablaze in parts of the country.”

There have been clashes between herdsmen and farmers across West Africa. Niger, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria are among the countries which have had their share of the violence.

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