Operation Cow Leg confrontational, dangerous - Aning

Security Analyst, Dr Kwesi Aning is calling for a revision in the strategy of Operation Cow Leg aimed at dealing with the Fulani menace in the Ashanti region.

As part of the operation, Police and Military have been deployed to the area but Dr Aning insists that the strategy aimed at flushing the nomadic Fulani herdsmen and their cattle is ineffective.

“Operation Cow Leg driven by the shoot the cattle strategy is confrontational is dangerous, is aggravating the problem,” he noted on Tuesday, January 16.

The Director at the Faculty of Academic Affairs & Research at Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre holds the view that the approach will only lead to casualties hence a change to a better and more sustainable solution to the menace.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Obed Akwa, has warned the nomadic Fulani herdsmen to cease attacks on security and inhabitants of Agogo and other areas else the country’s security forces will not hold back in descending heavily on them.

The CDS, who visited Agogo on a fact-finding mission, assured traditional authority in the area on Tuesday, 16 January that the country’s security forces will do everything it takes to protect citizens from attacks by the herdsmen.

Three soldiers sustained gunshot wounds after an attack by the herdsmen at Agogo on Monday, 8 January 2018.

The soldiers and a police officer, all members of Operation Cow Leg, were shot by herdsmen after they had responded to a distress call by a farmer whose crops were being destroyed by cattle belonging to the Fulani. The unknown assailants laid ambush and shot at the security officers.

According to the CDS, the police officers and the soldiers were deployed under orders of government and, therefore, attacks on them will not be tolerated.

“If anybody dare attack them, then they have defied the authority of government, and, as I said, such attacks cannot go without response and this response will be proportionate. It will be graduated; depending on the level of attack, we will up our game. It will address the core problems of the Traditional Area.

“In response to that, we decided under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief to send in reinforcements to send a clear message to those involved in this dastardly act that they cannot continue to act with impunity in the state of Ghana,” Lt. Gen. Akwa underscored.

The wounded security officers are currently receiving treatment at the 37 Military Hospital.