The Ghana Armed Forces has urged residents of Denkyira Obuasi in the Central Region not to flee their homes in the wake of the killing of Captain Maxwell A. Mahama by townsfolk in a mob attack.
The Director of Public Affairs at the Ghana Armed Forces, Col. Eric Aggrey-Quarshie, has said rather than fleeing the town, the residents should assist investigators to identify the perpetrators of this incident.
Captain Mahama was lynched by irate youth of the community on suspicion that he was an armed robber after a group of residents from whom he asked for directions during a Monday dawn jogging session spotted a pistol on him.
The community on Tuesday 30 May turned into a ghost town as residents fled from soldiers sent there to investigate the circumstances leading to the murder of their colleague. Reports said the soldiers were allegedly arresting and beating up residents.
But speaking on this development on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen on Tuesday May 30, Col. Aggrey-Quarshie said: “I have not been there but I will tell the people that there is no need for anybody abandoning his home. These who led the mob to kill the young man are the people we expect the community to help us arrest.
“It will not be right for anybody to go there and say because one of our members has been killed we are also here to beat you people. What about if the people you beat up also die? Will that bring back the soldier to life?”
Meanwhile, several youth of the community have been rounded up by military men who have stormed the town.