Hundreds of nomadic herdsmen residing in the Kopella and Zeogo communities in the Bawku West District in the Upper East Region have fled from the communities to protect their lives from the wrath of some angry natives of the two communities.
Almost every house and non-movable properties that belonged to these herdsmen and their families have been burnt down as at Wednesday night. Many of their cattle have also fled to safer places under no one’s control or care. Some natives who had their cattle with these herdsmen in the two communities are counting their loss, following the attacks on the herdsmen.
A Daily Guide source in Zebilla said, the burning of the homes of the herdsmen, especially the Fulanis was a reaction by angry natives to an attack on a 23-year-old pregnant woman from Zeogo by a man at dawn when she went into a forest to pick shea nuts.
According to reports, the said man met the woman in the forest and confronted her, demanding for sex and when the woman refused, he pulled out a cutlass and cut her several times to submission and finally raped her in the forest.
Even though the victim does not know the rapist, her description of the rapist and the fact that he was in the forest at dawn, got some natives suspecting that the act might have been done by a Fulani herdsman, hence their decision to attack every Fulani.
At the time of filing this report on Thursday, June 1, 2023, a large number of Fulanis had run into the Bolgatanga Municipality, while some remained in the Bawku West District capital, Zebilla. Fulanis who fled from dangers in Burkina-Faso to the Bawku West District have had to run back to face whatever awaits them in Burkina-Faso.
Aside from the Fulani homes that have been burnt at Kopella and Zeogo communities, Fulanis who live in Binaba; far from the incident, also had their share of attacks by some angry youth at the Binaba market.
Police officers who were deployed to the Binaba market to stop the youth from attacking the Fulanis at Binaba, were resisted fiercely and subsequently attacked by some angry youth.
Meanwhile, the woman is reported to be responding to treatment at the Zebilla District Hospital, but nothing was said about the state of a pregnancy.
The newly elected Parliamentary Candidate for the National Democratic Congress for the Zebilla Constituency, Ebenezer Ndebilla Alumire has since sent a delegation to visit the woman and made a cash donation to help settle her bills.
Source: dailyguidenetwork.com
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