The National Council of Fulani Chiefs in Ghana has donated relief items to Burkinabe refugees seeking asylum in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region.
The relief items, valued at about GHC60,000, were donated Thursday (16 March) to support the refugees who fled jihadists violence last year to settle in Sapeliga, Tilli and other parts of the district.
The relief items included several bags of maize, gari, rice, sugar, salt and gallons of cooking oil. The other items are sacks of mats, plastic buckets, utensils, plastic ablution can, sandals, boxes of soap and detergents, and clothing.
The president of the council, Alhaji Iddrisu Mohammed Bingle, who led the donation, stated that the intervention was to ameliorate the difficulties of the refugees especially the women and children.
He bemoaned the consequences violence and conflict have on women and children and prayed for peace to be restored in troubled Burkina Faso so that the refugees can return to their homes and live normal lives again.
Alhaji Bingle, while assuring that the Fulani community would continue to extend support to the refugees, urged peace in troubled Bawku. He stated that the Fulani community in Ghana was disturbed by the conflict in Bawku, adding its persistence would derail development efforts.
“In February, it was in the news that the jihadists in Burkina Faso attacked some villages and some of the villagers ran to Ghana to save their lives. So, we the Fulani in Ghana decided to do something to help their plight because they are our brothers and they are humans like us”.
“Our help is not selective. We are helping everyone because all the refugees are humans like us,” Alhaji Bingle added.
Combating crime
Prior to the donation, the leadership of the council called on the Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu to inform him of their presence and intervention.
The minister, who first received the donation, was full of praises to the council for undertaking the exemplary gesture that would help lighten the burden of government in providing for the refugees.
While he urged more support for the refugees, Yakubu used the opportunity to call for increased collaborations between the Regional Security Council and the Fulani community to combat crimes perceived to be perpetuated by Fulanis.
He stressed that the combined efforts in combating crime, was not only going to help create a safer society for all, but will also help fish out the bad nuts who are tarnishing the good name of the Fulani community.
“We have put the Fulanis in this region together and we are enjoying some collaborations in the fight against crime. I think that is commendable and we have to continue working together,” said Yakubu.
Reporting by Senyalah Castro in the Upper East Region
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