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Farmers in 12 communities in the Kwahu East District in the Eastern Region are living in constant fear of attacks by gun-wielding Fulani herdsmen in the area. The farmers� fear stems from the fact that four of their fellow farmers have been killed this year. The farmers from Abuam, Abene, Nkodua, Babua, Hweehwee, Dwerebease, Atta ne Atta, Yawtenkorang, Mpaem, Birifa Oyemsu and Atta Rekan had, on some occasions, fled their villages to seek protection in neighbouring villages. The farmers killed in the area this year include 78-year-old Kofi Hotovi and his 19-year-old son, Abraham Sogu, who were allegedly shot dead in their home at Nkodua by two Fulanis herdsmen while preparing their supper about 7 p.m. on April 27, 2012. George Kwame Sasu, 38, another farmer, went to his farm to harvest plantain in March 2012 but failed to return after three days, while another farmer, identified only as Abudua, 55, was murdered on his farm, allegedly by a Fulani herdsman. The farmers expressed their fear when the Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Victor E. Smith, in the company of the police and the military, led by the Eastern Regional Police Commander, visited the area to obtain first-hand information on the activities of Fulani herdsmen in the area. First to narrate the brutal attacks by the Fulani herdsmen was Mr Emmanuel Joekoi, 42, from Dwerebease. He said prior to the killing of the farmer and his son on April 27, 2012, Sasu had gone to his farm in March but failed to return after three days. He said a search party mobilised to comb various farms for Sasu failed to locate his body, noting that during the search, Fulani herdsmen allegedly opened fire on the searchers from a nearby bush. Mr Joekoi said two members of the search party sustained gunshots wounds in the leg and the arm, while another was shot at the back. They then called for assistance from the assembly member for Abene, who in turn informed the DCE for Kwahu East, Mr Asamoah, who sent the police with a vehicle to pick up the injured to the Abetifi Government Hospital. The Unit Committee Chairman for Yawtenkorang, Mr Jones Ampomah, said schoolchildren from Mpaem, Babua and Abuam who attended school at Yawtenkorang often returned home without going to school due to the threats they received from the Fulani herdsmen. �Very often, cattle belonging to the Fulani herdsmen rest on the road used by these schoolchildren who are warned by the herdsmen to go back to their communities in order not to disturb the animals,� he narrated. �This situation has affected school enrolment, as there are times when these children could stay away from school for two weeks,� Mr Ampomah added. Madam Felicia Kwakyewaa, a 59-year-old farmer, narrated how his 38-year-old son, also a farmer, had been killed by the Fulani herdsmen when he went to his farm at Dwerebease to harvest plantain. She said her son had been shot at the back, allegedly by Fulani herdsmen who had often warned her not to disturb the cattle that grazed on her farm. The farmers, therefore, appealed to the government to go to their aid to ensure their safety. Responding to the farmers� concerns, Mr Smith blamed some of the chiefs for giving out their land to the Fulani herdsmens in the area, at the expense of their people. He warned that any chief and Fulani herdsmen who would be found to be behind the killing of innocent farmers would be made to face the full rigours of the law.