The Brong-Ahafo Region, with a population of about two million, and a geographical area of thirty-nine thousand, five hundred and fifty seven square kilometers, is confronted with highway robberies and the cultivation, trafficking and use of narcotic drugs, especially indian hemp.

According to the Brong-Ahafo Regional Police Commander, DCOP Seth Charles Oteng, the major perpetrators of highway robberies in the region are Fulani herdsmen, who block the major roads and rob traders and passengers on board buses and trucks.

He disclosed that the cultivation, usage and trafficking of indian hemp is prevalent in Nsawkaw, Badu, Banda-Ahenkro and Seikwa, and as part of measures adopted to reduce highway robberies, a highway patrol team from the Regional Headquarters continues to patrol the Techiman-Kintampo highway in the night.

Also, the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), STC buses, and market women from Sunyani to Yeji are provided with armed police escorts to confront highway robbers, besides occasional swoops on known dens of criminals, coupled with snap checks on the roads.

The Regional Police Commander made this pronouncement when the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Paul Tawiah Quaye, paid a working visit to the region to interact with the officers and men in the region.

According to him, the activities of the Fulani herdsmen and their cattle were causing havoc and atrocities to the inhabitants, their crops, and water bodies in many communities, including the Wenchi, Nkoranza, Atebubu, Yeji and Kintampo districts.

He recalled that on January 25, this year, 46 security personnel escorted the Fulani herdsmen, with about 7,000 cattle, from Atebubu to Prang in the Pru district, whilst on March 9, this year, Wenchi police received information that some farmers and inhabitants of Dorbor had killed 16 cattle belonging to Fulani herdsmen, burnt their hamlets, and forced them to flee from their village.