Soldier’s killer smoked out

A 30-year-old heavily-built man suspected to have participated in a mob action that led to the gruesome death of an army officer, Captain Maxwell Mahama, at Denkyira-Obuase in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region, has been apprehended.

Charles Kwasi Buah was said to have fled Denkyira-Obuase after the widely-condemned mob action on Monday and sought refuge at Awutu Dominase, near Kasoa in the same region, but luck run out for him when his girlfriend allegedly tipped off the police about his presence.

He was quickly apprehended and taken first to the Ojobi Police Station before being transferred to the Kasoa Divisional Police Command where he is reportedly being kept.

Initial Denial

The death of Captain Mahama, who was a Detachment Commander checking galamsey operations in the area, has been described as barbaric, and President Akufo-Addo has said he would ensure that the perpetrators of the heinous crime are punished.

According to the Divisional Commander, C/Supt Dennis Abadey, the suspect initially denied his involvement in the lynching of the soldier but later confessed taking part in the mob action.

When pressed on why he had fled the town, Charles Kwasi Buah is said to have told the police that he feared the soldiers were going to ransack the town in retaliation over the killing.

“According to the regional headquarters, his name has been mentioned among the perpetrators and so we are preparing to take him to Cape Coast for further investigation,” the Divisional Commander said.

More Arrests

Currently, seven suspects, including the assemblyman for Denkyira-Obuase, William Baah, who allegedly led the mob to attack Captain Mahama, have appeared before a court in Cape Coast provisionally charged with the killing of the Captain, and the police in the region announced that another had been apprehended since Thursday, bringing the total to 15.

Those remanded into police custody by the Cape Coast District Court are expected to appear in court again on June 19.

DCE Suspended

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for Upper Denkyira West, Daniel Appianin, who initially created the impression that the deceased soldier and his men were in the area to protect Chinese galamsey operators, has been suspended by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

As a result, the assembly has offered an invitation to President Akufo-Addo to personally pay a visit to the area following the lynching of the soldier.

The Presiding Member of the Assembly, Gabriel Kwadwo Karikari, said at a press conference Friday, “We are appealing to Nana Akufo-Addo to come down to the place where the incident happened.”

Their particular concern is the circumstance surrounding the suspension of the DCE for the area.

The DCE, who heads the security in the district, claimed he was unaware of the presence of military officers at Denkyria-Obuasi.

Flanked by 18 other assembly men, the Presiding Member, who is second in-command in the district said, “We have accepted it (the suspension) in good faith.”

The assembly wants the president to personally come and get first-hand information about illegal mining in the rural community as claimed by their suspended leader.

Social Media Ban

The government has announced that it was liaising with the telecom companies and other international social media establishments like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, among others, to stop what it called the ‘illegal’ circulation of images and videos of the lynching of Captain Mahama.

A Deputy Minister of Communications, Nenyi George Andah, confirmed the government’s move on radio yesterday, saying it was needless to share the gory images and videos of the deceased soldier.

Mournful family members of the late Captain have called on the government to check social media platforms for such videos which they said touched on their emotions in this time of grief.

They said when a minister’s son was involved in pornography, the video was immediately blocked, questioning why their son’s gory image was being freely circulated.

On Twitter for example, the word ‘Captain’ was trending while Facebook and WhatsApp platforms were inundated by the gruesome death of the soldier.

Mr. Andah said, “Four URL links have been blocked on Youtube and other social media,” adding, “However, there are a lot of these videos and images and as some are being blocked, new ones are being brought up.

“We are working closely with Google; we are working with Facebook and this is something that we were doing proactively from good governance and out of respect for family rights and for being responsible as a ministry.

“The bereaved family would have to also complain to the Data Protection Commission that their rights are being abused and that would reinforce the steps that we have taken and measures that are being implemented so far.

“Our immediate priority now is to stop the circulation of these videos and images and that is something that we initiated about two days ago and the process is still ongoing.

“As at today, we have escalated it to the National Communications Authority (NCA) to engage the telecom companies (Telcos) to put in place measures to stop these images being transferred through their data network.”