Security consultant and professor at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Prof. Kwesi Aning, has sharply criticised Ghanaian authorities for failing to issue a formal travel advisory to traders regularly travelling to Burkina Faso, despite escalating terrorist violence in the Sahel.
His remarks follow a deadly terrorist attack on Ghanaian tomato traders near Titao, a town in northern Burkina Faso, on Saturday, February 14, 2026 — Valentine’s Day.
Speaking on JoyNews AM Show on Tuesday, Prof. Aning revealed that he had asked a producer to verify whether any Ghanaian institution — including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ghana Road Transport Union or even the Tomato Sellers Association — had issued a warning to traders travelling to Burkina Faso, Mali or Algeria.
He said the findings were deeply troubling: no such warning had been issued.
“When a state fails its people at their critical point of need, words of sympathy almost don’t mean anything,” Prof. Aning said.
“For our people to voluntarily travel to a war zone in search of livelihood — I just tell a dramatic story.”
According to Interior Minister Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, who spoke on JoyNews on Monday, the traders were in Titao when jihadists launched an attack, specifically targeting the men. Among those travelling on one truck were ten men, including the driver, and eight women. Seven men were killed, and three others sustained serious injuries. Some of the women were affected but not seriously injured.
However, the President of the Ghana National Tomatoes Transporters and Sellers Association, Eric Tuffuor, stated that eleven men were killed in the attack. He described how the attackers shot the men on sight, kidnapped some of the women and set the truck ablaze, burning everything to ashes.
Interior Minister Muntaka explained how the attack unfolded.
“The attackers forced the women off the trucks and opened fire indiscriminately. Several individuals, including the drivers, died instantly, and the trucks were set ablaze, leaving the bodies burnt beyond recognition,” he said.
Prof. Aning has called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant trade unions to urgently establish formal travel advisories and coordinated safety protocols for Ghanaians trading within the Sahel, warning that failure to act could leave more families grieving.
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