Thirteen of fifteen Fulani herdsmen, who allegedly attacked and robbed school children on the Tumu-Navrongo road on August 6, 2011, were on Wednesday acquitted and discharged by the Bolgatanga Circuit Court for lack of evidence. It would be recalled that students of the St. Francis Senior High School in Jirapa, numbering 50, were robbed near Basunde in the Sisila East district of the Upper West Region. The incident took place near the Sisili River. The matter was reported to the police in Bolgatanga, and the Upper East Regional Police Command immediately dispatched a team of police officers to the scene. But, before the police arrived, the robbers had finished the operation, and bolted with the students’ belongings, including money and cell phones. Those who failed to produce these items were reported to have been caned by the robbers, who were of Fulani extraction. The police later stormed the Basunde community and its surroundings, and arrested 15 Fulani including four juveniles. The suspects were paraded in Bolgatanga for identification. Two of them, Alhassan Dauda and Abdulai Dauda, were identified by one of the victims as their attackers. The increasing cases of armed robbery, especially in the three Northern Regions, have been blamed on Fulani herdsmen, because victims of those attacks have identified them as their attackers who wielded deadly weapons such as AK 47, locally manufactured pistols, and machetes. Meanwhile, the National Chief of Fulanis in Ghana, Alhaji Iddrisa Ahmed Bingle, has jumped to the defence of his people, by claiming that the Fulanis were being discriminated against by Ghanaians. He claimed pronouncements by some Ghanaians and actions by the police tended to portray all Fulanis as criminals. Suggestions have come from some sections of the Ghanaian public that all Fulanis be screened and properly registered, to ensure that their activities are better regulated, to avert the current havoc and pain they were causing. But, Chief Ahmed Bingle thinks Fulanis in Ghana must be considered as Ghanaians, and accorded some respect. The first batch arrived on Monday in Bolgatanga, and was received by the Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, who gave them money to transport themselves to the various villages and towns. The arrival of the second batch brings the total number of the returnees to 97. More of them are expected to arrive within the week.