"Preacher" Killed By Mob

A man who posed as a dawn preacher was yesterday lynched at Dansoman Estate, in Accra, when he and two accomplices allegedly attempted to rob someone who had stopped to listen to the preaching. He was found dead in the morning in a pool of blood at the "Sharp Curve" junction with his Bible and a pen placed on his chest.

According to eyewitnesses, a taxi driver who conveyed one of the robbery victims to hospital yesterday at dawn, returned to tell them the tricks of the robbers. They said the victim told the taxi driver that the "dawn preacher" captured his attention with his preaching when he was passing by. As he attempted to answer a question from the preacher, his accomplices emerged from the dark to attack and rob him.

However, luck ran out for them when another victim they were attacking at the junction near the Wesley Grammar Secondary School in Dansoman raised the alarm which attracted a mob.

The robbers took to their heels but the mob pursued them and apprehended the supposed preacher. He was lynched. When the Times got to the scene around 8.30 a.m., a large crowd of residents had gathered around the body, discussing the incident.

Apart from the Bible and pen placed on the body, there were big stones and sticks reportedly used to assault the man believed to be in his 20s.Plain-clothed policemen from Dansoman Police Station were there to examine the body which they later conveyed to the morgue. The Times newspaper also learnt that the victim of the attack was taken to the hospital with a cut on his hand. The police said many complaints of mobile phone robbery and bag snatching had been reported around the area. Residents said robbery has become rampant in the area, as a result of which their movement is restricted especially at night.