Security Beefed Up In Gushiegu

Military and police personnel has moved to the Gushiegu District in the Northern Region to contain further attacks by irate youth from Zamanshigu on some residents believed to be of Fulani descent. The security personnel have succeeded in maintaining law and order, following Wednesday�s attack which left 13 herdsmen dead and 17 others injured. The Northern Regional Police Commander, ACP George Osei Tuffuor, told the Daily Graphic that �the security agencies have enough men to contain any further disturbances if they do occur. At the moment, our men have intensified their patrol of the area.� He warned that anybody who took the law into his or her own hands would be drastically dealt with and advised persons whose rights had been infringed upon to report the cases to the police. Currently, about 96 surviving Fulani herdsmen and their families have sought refuge at the Gushiegu Police Station, while the assembly is making efforts to find a temporary shelter for them. The death toll as of Wednesday afternoon was 12, but it increased to 13 when one more dead body was found later in the day. Currently, only six persons are on admission at the Gushiegu Hospital, as some of the 11 injured victims have since been treated and discharged. The rest have been referred to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for further attention. The bodies of the deceased are still at the Gushiegu Hospital morgue. The police commander said investigations were ongoing to ascertain the actual cause of the violence. The Gushiegu District Chief Executive, Alhaji Alhassan Fuseini, said the incident began at the Damankung and the Zantalli Electoral areas, which are both Kokomba settlements at Zamanshigu, about 2 a.m. on Wednesday. He denied reports that the violence had extended to other communities in the district. An unidentified group of irate youth allegedly attacked the victims last Wednesday for reasons yet to be established. Some residents, however, claimed that the Fulanis had been destroying their farms and sources of livelihood in the area. The herdsmen are also alleged to have been engaged in cattle rustling and armed robbery in the area for some period now.