‘Snake Girl’ grabbed in Kumasi

THE ADAGE that ‘wonders shall never end’ was demonstrated at Tafo, a suburb of Kumasi, yesterday morning, when a woman believed to be in her late twenties allegedly turned into a snake.

The information virtually caused a stampede at the Tafo District Police command when residents trooped to the scene to catch a glimpse of the ‘snake woman.’

Abena Agyeiwaa, a native of Mampong in the Ashanti region, turned into a big black cobra at about 7:30 am at Tafo Mile Four.

The incident, according to eyewitnesses, unfolded at a culvert located in front of the Maranatha Kingdom Faith Ministries, a local church in the area.

An eyewitness, Adelaide Yeboah aka ‘Ama Ataa’, wife of the pastor in charge of the church, told DAILY GUIDE “I was at home when I heard people shouting that there was a snake in front of the church.”

Alarmed by the shouts, Mrs. Yeboah said she decided to come out and find out what was amiss and to her surprise, she saw an extremely large black cobra crawling slowly in front of the church.

According to her, the large crowd which appeared at the scene as a result of the incessant shouts, attempted to kill the snake, a development which saw the snake seeking refuge in a culvert.

Determined to kill the mysterious snake, the pastor’s wife noted that the unwavering crowd decided to pour hot water into the culvert to force the snake out.

Few minutes after the hot water had been poured into the culvert, Mrs. Yeboah said that a wretched-looking woman emerged from the culvert to the utter shock of the multitude that had gathered there.

“When the people shouted that the snake had turned into a human being, the woman angrily responded, and so what,” the frightened pastor’s wife claimed.

She added that the crowd became convinced that the woman was indeed the snake that entered the culvert, when she began wiggling her body like a snake after emerging from the culvert.

She disclosed that there were visible burns on the body of the woman after emerging from the culvert, a development which suggested that she was badly affected by the hot water that was poured into the culvert.

The pastor’s wife said when the woman was interviewed after she had come out of the culvert, she indicated that she was not a snake and that she decided to enter the culvert because she did not have any place to sleep.

When asked of her location, Mrs. Yeboah said the woman told them that she was a native of Mampong, who is married to one Lawrence and has two children and that she came to Kumasi for business.

Fearing that the woman could be attacked by the angry crowd, the pastor’s wife said the Tafo district police command was called in to come and whisk the woman to the station for protection.

Police officers at the station had a hectic time controlling the crowd that besieged the station to catch a glimpse of the woman.

Realizing that the crowd was overwhelming them, the district police commander, Superintendent Kwaku Buah, called for reinforcement from the Regional police command.

The crowd only dispersed after the reinforcement from the regional police command had arrived and taken the woman to the central police command for protection.

Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, Superintendent Buah said it was untrue that it was a ‘snake-woman’, stressing that nothing of that sort could happen.

He disclosed that information reaching his outfit revealed that the woman was a deranged person who had been brought to a prayer camp at Anwiaa, a suburb in Kumasi.

The district commander disclosed that the woman became mentally challenged after she gave birth to her second child and that she usually left her home at Mampong for unknown destinations.

Superintendent Buah observed that the woman was being detained for protection from the angry and superstitious mob.

Within minutes, news about the said strange happening had reached every corner of Kumasi, as radio stations thronged the station to telecast live reports, a development which made the story the most topical issue in town.