NIP This Culture of Violence in the Bud

The Christian Council of Ghana, yesterday, condemned, in no uncertain terms, recent incidents of mob action against state institutions and security agencies.

The Council pointed out that mob action does not only disfigure Ghana's democratic credentials, but, most importantly, threatens our nation's peace and tranquility.

Speaking in an interview with Joy News on Tuesday, Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni Frimpong, General Secretary of the Christian Council, made reference to the lurid murder of Capt. Maxwell Adam Mahama by some residents of Diaso, in the Denkyira-Obuasi District of the Central Region.

Rev. Dr. Opuni Frimpong made further reference to another mob attack on an installation of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in Somanya in the Eastern Region.

"We are witnessing a trend of emerging culture of violence, and we consider that to be a threat to good governance and public safety," the Christian Council's General Secretary said.

The Chronicle wishes to join President Akufo-Addo, former presidents, Jerry John Rawlings and John Dramani Mahama, as well as the Christian Council, to condemn the mob actions, particularly, the lynching of the military Captain.

The issue of mob action has, in recent times, become an albatross hanging around the neck of the state, thus making security issues more difficult than taming a lion.

On Friday, March 31, 2017, some residents of the Ekpu community in the Half Assini District in the Western Region, attacked the district police station, vandalised state properties, and assaulted the police personnel on duty.

The attack on the police, according to reports, was a result of the death of a suspect who was in police custody on suspicion of stealing a dress. He was denied bail and spent more than 72 hours in cells.

Again, on May 23, 2017, the youth of Tema Manhean (New-Town) attacked the district police station, pelting the building with stones and disrupted its operations, as they demanded the arrest and prosecution of a police officer who allegedly shot and killed a resident, whilst effecting his arrest two weeks earlier.

That was the third time the youth in the community were attacking the police station over the said incident.

It is, therefore, no wonder that the Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante Apeatu, has issued a stern warning against vandalism and attacks on police properties and personnel.

At the commissioning of a police station at Ahwiaa in the Bekwai Municipality of the Ashanti Region, the IGP warned that his outfit will not condon such acts of lawlessness, adding that those found culpable would be made to face the full rigours of the law.

Mr. Asante Apeatu entreated members of the general public to join hands with the police in curbing lawlessness in the country.

The Chronicle believes that, as a nation, we cannot continue to allow people to take the laws of the state into their own hands and visit violence on properties and human lives, no matter whatever justification they might have for mob action.

Let us use the lynching of Capt. Maxwell Mahama as a test case to reflect on our way of handling mob action to reduce its negative effects to the barest minimum.

As a nation, one area we must consider closely is the intensification of education of the citizenry in how to deal with mob action, in order not to repeat such heinous crimes again in the country.

To The Chronicle, the investigation set out by the Ministry of Defence should get to the bottom of the matter to ensure that the perpetrators of this mob action are dealt with severely, to deter others from involving themselves in such acts of bestial violence.

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