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 comments came after a Valentine’s Day terrorist attack on Saturday, February 14, 2026, which killed Ghanaian tomato vendors close to the town of Titao in northern Burkina Faso. Speaking on Tuesday, Prof. Aning disclosed that he had requested a producer to confirm if any Ghanaian organization, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ghana Road Transport Union, or even the Tomato Sellers Association, had warned traders heading to Algeria, Burkina Faso, or Mali.
The results, he claimed, were quite concerning: no such warning had been given. “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.”
In an interview on Monday, Interior Minister Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak claimed that the traders were in Titao when terrorists attacked, focusing on the men. There were eight women and ten males, including the driver, in one truck. Three guys were seriously injured, and seven men were killed. While not gravely hurt, a few of the women were impacted. 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.
