Six individuals have been apprehended by the Ahanta West Municipal Police Command in the Western Region for allegedly setting ablaze a 60-year-old man, Isaac Ansah, in a community known as Achonwa.
According to Channel One TV, the tragic event on Thursday, June 27th, 2024, occurred after a mob responded to allegations by a local fetish priest from the Achonwa community.
The priest had informed elders of the community that Isaac Ansah had supposedly presented the names of 14 community members to him to be killed for sacrifice.
Before this incident, Ansah had been residing in the community for over two years due to an earlier accusation of spiritually causing the death of a resident.
Mr Frank Eshun, the nephew of the late Ansah, who recounted the incident to Channel One News, mentioned that among the six individuals arrested were community figures such as Nana Ojandi, the Caretaker Chief, Godfred Cudjoe, the Assemblyman, the Fetish Priest, the Chief Fisherman, and two others.
Mr Eshun elaborated that the mob violence resulting in his uncle’s tragic death occurred shortly after a meeting between Ansah and town elders, which ended without a resolution. This prompted anger among residents who attacked him.
“The Chief (Caretaker Chief) and the Assemblyman had a grand durbar to meet the community members to decide what they have to do with my uncle. They also called the Fetish Priest to narrate what had happened. That was where he said my uncle had written some 14 names for him to kill them.
“So when they called my uncle, he told them that the names he sent to the Fetish Priest were rather to soften their heart to allow him to come back to the community as he was already serving banishment from the community for an incident that happened some two years ago.
“It was just for the Priest to change their mind to forget the issue to allow him to come back to the community to do his work but he didn’t tell him to kill anyone. They didn’t listen to him at all and so the youth of the community gathered, immediately captured him, tied him with ropes, stoned him and finally burnt him with used car tyres and petrol,” he said.
He said the family has been devastated by the tragic death of his uncle and strongly called for justice to be served.
“It’s painful. When I went there and saw the remains of my uncle, I have not been able to eat anything since, because I saw dogs and birds eating his remains. So I feel very bad. We need the prosecution of those people because if this even happened, it is not for you to use the law anyhow you want. There is law in the country and everyone must abide by the law. So we are pleading with the state to prosecute them“, he called.
The body of 60-year-old Isaac Ansah has been taken to the mortuary for an autopsy, and his family is hopeful that they can soon lay him to rest peacefully.
