by Abubakar Ibrahim
The uncle of Captain Maxwell Mahama, young military officer lynched by Denkyira-Obuasi residents on Monday said, the family wants justice to bring a closure to his gruesome killing.
Prof. Fred Mark Bagonluri says it is unfortunate a man who has sworn to defend his country had to die in such a manner.
“A man who decides to save his nation has to die in war, and not murdered by the very citizens that he swore an oath to protect and defend against both internal and external aggression.
“For him to die in this manner challenges my citizenship,” he said.
Prof. Bagonluri told Joy FM the family is struggling to deal with the loss of the late Captain Mahama who was on his way to being promoted to a Major soon.
Captain Maxwell Mahama who is with the 5 Battalion Infantry was reportedly lynched while he went jogging at dawn on Monday. He was allegedly stoned and burnt by the youth of the area who mistook him for an armed robber.
Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul says government will investigate thoroughly the killing, which he describes as weird.
“The circumstances under which this officer was murdered callously has not yet been established so I will urge that we don’t draw conclusions until a thorough investigation has taken place".
He said the circumstance surrounding the killing is weird because the deceased was armed.
“If it was the normal Ghanaian way of shouting ‘jolour’ [thief] then straight away the officer would have wasted some people if he knew they would kill him.
“It is clear the way he was murdered, the villagers might not have raised the thief syndrome of shouting. They may have hit him without him knowing what their intentions were," the Minister said.
According to him, in order to prevent any reprisal attack, the military high command upon his advice moved two officers and 35 men to join the platoon to carry out the investigations.
Mr Nitiwul said the military police; defence intelligence, Regional Police Commander and the officers of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) are on the ground to see to the investigations.
Arrest
However, the police in the Denkyira Obuasi district are accusing the military of hampering investigations into the incident and are demanding their withdrawal from the town.
"The police are trying very hard to get them. This morning we tried to make contact but we were not successful as we were told that most of the youth were informed last night that the military will be deployed to town.
"This morning when I passed around, I saw soldiers in town but I did not get closer to them," police commander for the district said.
Joy News' Ohemeng Tawiah said the town is currently deserted as many of the residents have sought refuge in the nearby forest although some arrests have been made.
It is not clear how many people have been arrested, as the military has not disclosed the number or where they have been kept in the township.
Also, the whereabout of the Assembly who is reported to have incited the people to lynch the officer is not known, the reporter said.
The police said he was the one who reported to them about a young man who has been spotted in the community and the inhabitants suspected that he was an armed robber.
Two other people who are said to have engaged the deceased in a gun battle are on being hunted by the police.
The District Police Commander, ASP Osei-Adu Agyemang said they are looking for the Assemblyman to get more answers as he told them the officer pulled a gun on him and other residents, which was why he rushed to the police station to lodge a complaint.
The Commander said it is likely that by the time he lodged the complaint, the residents might have killed the officer because when the police got to the scene the officer had been killed already.
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