Control content in media to prevent incidences of ritual murders – Bright Appiah

Bright Appiah, the Executive Director of Child Rights International, has lamented the growing exposure to inappropriate content that both traditional and social media offer children.

He was reacting to the recent news of the suspected ritual killing of an 11-year-old at Kasoa by some two juveniles.

According to a citinewsroom.com report, Bright Appiah called on the government to properly regulate the media space in a way that contents that are unwholesome and which could contribute to such dastardly acts in the future are prevented.

This is a sentiment that has been shared by many Ghanaians following the shock that greeted the news from over the weekend.

“For children to engage in this kind of practice, it shows that children are being exposed to acts that make them believe that overnight, they can make money,” Bright Appiah said.

According to him, adequate policies are needed in place “so that we can limit the activities of other people, especially the media when it comes to TV for showing adverts that portray people in a certain way in terms of money rituals and other things.”

He also noted the need for the regulation of what and when certain things are advertised especially on television.

“It is important for the system to be regulated otherwise, we will continue to see these kinds of acts,” he said.

The police at Kasoa in the Central region confirmed that the two teenagers, Felix Nyarko, 16, and Nicholas Kini, 17, who were arrested on Saturday for killing the 11-year-old, wanted to use the deceased for rituals later that night.

Felix and Nicholas had lured the deceased to an uncompleted building, hit him with a club and cement blocks, killing him instantly, and would have gotten away with the crime had one of their fathers not spotted them.