Inspt Mutse and Constable Ashinyo
Two police officers yesterday died in the line of duty, and another is in the hospital after they had reportedly been shot by unknown gunmen in an early morning roadside ambush at Drobonso in the Sekyere Afram Plains District of the Ashanti Region.
The officers, Inspector Adolph Mutse, General Constable Enoch Okyere and Constable Prosper Ashinyo, were said to have been attacked when they were returning from duty at Drobonso Tent City to Kumawu in a police vehicle registered  GP 2346.
The murdered officers were named as Inspector Adolph Mutse and Constable Ashinyo, while the injured officer, G/Constable Enoch Okyere – who survived the attack – is on admission at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
The shooting followed earlier attacks on members of ‘Operation Cow Leg’ – a taskforce charged to check the menace caused by Fulani herdsmen – at Asante-Akyem Agogo recently, which left three military officers and one cop injured.
The Ashanti Regional Police Command, which has expressed shock at the officers’ death, described the attack as “sickening” and making the day a “Black Thursday,” indicating that the callous incident happened around 5:30 am at a spot on the Onwam Mountain on the Kumawu-Drobonso main road.
The command’s spokesperson, ASP Juliana Obeng, said the officers were ambushed by the gunmen, numbering about eight, who had barricaded the road with logs.
District Chief Executive (DCE) for Sekyere Afram Plains, Joseph Owusu, who heads the district security council (DISEC), said such attacks are relatively common between December and February each year.
According to him, there were high-level talks between the DISEC and REGSEC for the taskforce to be set up to deal with the perennial Fulani problem.
Mr. Owusu stated that the challenges regarding atrocities by nomadic herdsmen were unfortunately becoming serious, particularly attacks on security officers in their line of duty.
In his view, yesterday’s attack was a new dimension that had been introduced into the herdsmen issue, which requires urgent attention to nib in the bud.
He indicated that the district is handicapped in terms of logistics and security personnel to deal with the situation on the ground, as it lacks a command security structure – always relying on the police at Kumawu to address security challenges.
The DCE said he had been pleading with the indigenes to hold their fire and allow the security agencies to tackle the problem and restore peace to the area.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi