Residents mistook soldier for robber, lynch him

Some residents of the Diaso community in the Upper Denkyira West District of Ghana pelted an army captain, Adam Mahama, with stones to death and burnt him after they mistook him for an armed robber on Monday.

He had only spent about three weeks in the area after replacing the then Commander of the military personnel who was relieved of his duties of protecting a local mining company.

According to MyJoyOnline, Mahama is reported to have met his untimely death when he was out for his early morning jogging. He was lynched by some youths after he was mistaken for an armed robber. He was pelted with stones and burnt, the military has said.

However, the Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, has appealed to the military hierarchy to restraint its men from brutalizing residents over the death of an officer at Diaso.

Duncan told a radio station in Accra on Tuesday that although the lynching of  the army captain was a “dastardly act” it is no grounds for residents to be terrorised.

“…this is purely a criminal matter, and the solution to this crime is not about the use of brute force,” he said.

There are reports that some military personnel are holding at least 90 of the Diaso residents hostage. They are demanding the gun of the deceased to be given to them, Upper Denkyira East DCE, Daniel Appianing is quoted as saying.