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Ritual murder hits Kumasi
new
Warning:
The article and link below lead to a graphic picture!
Personnel of the Asokwa Police Station in the Ashanti Region are searching
for clues to help them track down the killers of a young woman believed to be in
her early 30s.
Aniwaa, said to be a native of Kwaso-Deduako, was found dead with her breasts,
genitals and other body parts removed in the latest killing linked to ritual
murder. She was allegedly killed in the night of Wednesday, January 11, 2012
(....)
The incident, (....) is the second of its kind in two months in the area (....)
residents said the young woman might have been killed for ritual purposes. (...)
making people fear for the safety of adult female members of the family (...).
January 13, 2012
Woman murdered for suspected spiritual purposes
new
Residents of Adum-Kwanwoma in the Atwima-Kwanwoma District, woke up on
Thursday morning only to be greeted with a horrible spectacle of the gruesome
murder of a young lady.(...) her breasts, navel and vagina removed, fueling
suspicion that she might have been killed for ritual purposes.
(...)
This is the second time in about three months that there had been such brutal
murder in the town. The first, involved the killing and removal of the vagina of
a pregnant woman. The police are holding some suspects for thet murder.
January 13, 2012
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Ritual baby killing in Northern Ghana
new
Joy FM reporter Seth Kwame Boateng recently visited an orphanage in the Upper
East Region of the country called 'Sirigu' to uncover the chilling
practice of cultural murder: the killing of babies who are born with deformities,
or whose birth coincide with a tragic event in the familily, such as the loss of
the birthgiving mother.
Such children are called spirit children or siri sirigu, and are
thought to be bad omen for the community - therefore they are killed.
Follow the link below for a transcrption of his breath-taking documentary from
Bolgatenga and Sirigu:
April 1, 2011
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Hawker Murdered
A 28-Year-old hawker was on Monday night murdered at Abossey Okai in Accra in
the most gruesome way by unknown assailants in what is believed to be a ritual
killing. The body of the man lying at the scene of the murder, with his tongue
and genitals removed, attracted a large crowd yesterday.
(....)
Superintendent I. A. Yakubu, who is in charge of the Kaneshie District
Headquarters, confirmed the incident to the Daily Graphic and said the police
had commenced investigations to establish the cause of death.
(.....)
The killing of the cocoa drink seller has created panic at Abossey Okai, with
some residents accusing 'Sakawa' boys (cyber fraudsters) of orchestrating the
killing for ritual purposes to increase their fortunes.
December 2, 2009
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Man kills brother, butchers daughter
The Techiman Police are holding a 40-year-old farmer for allegedly murdering his
25-year-old brother for ritual purposes. Weah Kontomah Seidu, the suspect,
butchered his victim, Tang Dery, decapitated him and kept parts of the body on a
farm for rituals.
The arrest of Seidu, who has been remanded into police custody, was triggered by
the discovery of his 15-year-old daughter, Doris Zumori, in one of the waste
bins placed by Zoomlion Ghana Ltd at Deasempa, a suburb of Techiman with several
machete wounds inflicted on her.
(...) the deceased's two brothers reported to the police that Dery had not
returned from the farm at Aworopata, near Techiman, with his elder brother Seidu
the previous day, July 24, 2009.
(...) Seidu was arrested and, upon interrogation, he allegedly admitted killing
Dery.
(...)
Supt Ntim said Seidu then took the police to the farm where (...) the suspect
then took the police to a palm tree where he had placed Dery's head on the palm
frond, while the decapitated body was lying close by. Seidu claimed he was
preserving the head to take to Lawra in the Upper West Region for ritual
purposes to seek protection.
August 1, 2009
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Man Beheads Son For Juju
Residents of Ankaase, a farming community near Derma in the Brong Ahafo Region,
were shocked to the marrow last Tuesday July 28, 2009, following the gruesome
murder of a 14-year-old boy by his father for money ritual.
The boy, Paul, was allegedly beheaded by his father, a farmer who was known in
the community only as Naa. The suspect, prior to the cold-blooded murder, had
boasted that he was going to be rich very soon.
(...) who asked Naa where his son was. When Naa could not offer any tangible
explanation, he was beaten up until he confessed to killing the boy.
(...)
When the body was exhumed, the head was nowhere to be found. The suspect told
the police he had hidden the head in his house and that the businessman whose
name he could not mention was to take the head to Accra to perform some rituals
for him.
(...)
July
30, 2009
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Politicians Should Stop Bringing Curses...
The Accra Daily News article dated May 20 2009, by Sheikh Salawati Imam Rashid
Outubu Zaanam, a one time Imam in the Ghana Armed Forces and the spiritual
leader of the Salawati Mission of Ghana. Has defiantly stated “during the
2008 elections in Ghana some politicians not only were able to use animals to be
slaughtered and sacrificed, but some human beings were buried alive including
Albinos, deep in the forests” This statement from these spiritual leaders
including some pastors who had previously predicted the same issues should not
be treated just as an ordinary story.
(...)
History justified the actions during the 1960s when Kwame Nkrumah of (CPP) fame
went on to seek voodoo intervention instead of God’s intervention to rule the
country by bringing (Kan Kan Nyame gods) to Osu Castle. Kwame Nkrumah thought
these evil gods (Kan Kan Nyame) would give him the hegemonic power he needs to
rule the Christian’s country forever. Kwame Nkrumah was able to bury a pregnant
woman alive, the same as some of the current politicians are doing. (...) The
aforementioned incident has haunted our dear nation for more than thirty years
because of Kwame Nkrumah killing innocent souls for his ritual purpose.
(...)
June 1, 2009
Omanhene calls for more information on albino killings
Apam (Central Region) - The Omanhene of the Gomoa Akyempim
Traditional Area, Obrifo Ahunaku Ahor Ankobea II has called for more
information on reported albino killings allegedly by some
politicians during the 2008 elections (see below).
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Obrifo Ankobeah
requested that the office of national security should invite Sheikh
Salawati Imam Rashid Qutubu Zaanam, the Spiritual Leader of the
Salawati Mission of Ghana who was reported to have made the
allegation.
An Accra Daily on May 20, 2009 quoted Sheikh Zaanam, a one-time Imam
in the Ghana Armed Forces as saying "during the elections, not
only were animals slaughtered and sacrificed, but some human beings
were buried alive, including albinos, deep in the forests."
(...)
"As a spiritual leader of a religion, he knows what he was saying,"
the Omanhene stated and added that the allegation must be cleared to
forestall albinos from living in fears in their own motherland.
Albinos killed for 2008 elections
A one-time Imam in the Ghana Armed Forces, Sheikh Salawati Imam
Rashid, has made a scary disclosure about how some politicians in
the country buried a number of albinos and children alive, in their
quest for political power.
(...)
Sheikh Salawati Imam Rashid Qutubu Zamaan is the Spiritual Leader
and Head of the Salawati Mission of Ghana, based in Tamale. He was
the first trained and commissioned Imam/Officer in the Ghana Armed
Forces, which he left as a Captain after about a decade’s service.
(...)
“During the elections, not only were animals slaughtered and
sacrificed; but some human beings were buried alive, including
albinos, deep in the forests,” Sheikh Rashid said.
(...)
That Imam Rashid has made such a revelation about the extent to
which politicians can go, adds credence to the apprehension of the
pigment-deficient humans, otherwise called ‘ofli gyato’.
(...)
Ghanaian politicians who sought the spiritual interventions, he said,
consulted voodoos, mountain and river gods, as well as marine
spirits, both in Ghana and outside it, during which they made
pledges to the shrines and deities.
(...)
His revelations appear to tie in with what a number of Christian
clergies have already made about the bloody esoteric engagements by
politicians before the last elections.
(...)
He expressed surprise that Ghanaian politicians went to the extent
of going beyond the extraordinary and making human sacrifices (...).
May 21, 2009
- Albino Killing Craze Stares At Ghana
Albinos destined for Bukruwa in the Eastern Region risk being
killed for ritual purposes, warns Nana Agyare Osei Tutu III, Chief
of the town. This is because centuries-old tradition of the small
town suggests sacrificing albinos to the gods of the town brings
good omen to its indigens. (...) “We came to meet it, so we don’t have anything to do about it,” Nana
Agyare said. There has not been any recent killing of albinos in the
town.
In a reaction to the chief’s comments however, Mr John Davies,
president of the Albino Society of Ghana said the development is
rather irrelevant. He said the practise constitutes an infringement
on the fundamental human rights of persons living with albinism.
March 19, 2009
- Ritual murder hits Ayamfuri-Besease
A 45-YEAR old cocoa farmer has been found dead on his farm at
Ayamfuri-Besease, near Dunkwa-On-Offin in the Central Region.
In a typical ritual murder fashion, the body of Kwaku Adu was found
with the vital organs removed. Reports indicate that his eyes,
tongue, testicles and intestines were missing when he was recovered
by a search team three days after he was declared missing.
(...)
Meanwhile, residents who spoke to DAILY GUIDE pointed out that for
the past three weeks seven people have been killed in similar
fashion but the police have not been able to apprehend the
perpetrators.
The residents, who say fear has gripped them, indicated that they
believe human parts buying cartels have pitched camp in the town,
hence the mysterious deaths.
February 23, 2009
Hunter's dog uncovers ritual murder
But for the incessant barking of a hunter's dog, the body of a
45-year-old farmer who was allegedly murdered in cold blood for
ritual purposes would never have been found.
(...)
According to the police in Dunkwa-On-Offin, they have begun
investigations into the circumstances that led to the killing of the
farmer, Kwaku Adu, last Thursday.
Adu's body was found without his left eye and ear; he had a deep cut
on the abdomen.
(...)
Some family members who pleaded anonymity told the Spectator that
about four people had mysteriously been murdered in the area. They
believed that they were killed for rituals.
February 21, 2009
- Bibiani ritual murders: 4 suspects arrested
The arrest of four persons suspected to be the masterminds behind
the recent ritual murders in Bibiani in the Western Region has
unleashed a feeling of relief in the town as most residents claim
they can now go about their duties without fear.
A few months ago, fear and insecurity gripped the town.
(...)
The four suspects who are currently standing trial at a Sekondi High
Court have pleaded innocent to the charge (...). According to the
District Police Commander for Bibiani, Deputy Superintendent of
Police (DSP) Anane Appiah, the arrest of the four suspects had
brought joy to the residents, some of whom had been afraid to expose
the suspects, although they knew them.
(...)
The Chief of Bibiani and Krontihene of the Sefwi Anwhiaso
Traditional Area, Nana Ngoa Kodom, who corroborated that development,
said, “We are not happy about the situation.” For a long time the
Sefwi area has earned a rather bad name as a haven for ritual
murderers and a ‘market centre’ for the sale of human parts.
The infamous case in the mid-1980s of a nine-year-old boy, Kofi
Kyintoh, who was beheaded by his uncle for ritual purposes, as well
as many other ritual murder cases and instances of persons caught in
possession of human parts in the area, inundated the media in the
past.
Recently, Bibiani has come under the media spotlight in view of the
horrific cases of suspected ritual murders in the town which
targeted girls and hunchbacks.
(...)
January 15, 2009
- UNHCR 2008 Country Report on Human Rights Practices - Ghana
According to the Ghanaian Times of July 28, Yakubu Busanga, a
hunchback, was killed and his hump removed. The attack may have been
motivated by an effort to obtain body parts for use in ritual
practices. In September there were reports from Bibiani District of
three hunchbacks being murdered for body parts which apparently were
to be used in rituals.
February 25, 2009
- GHANA: Police working on a hunch....!
Police are investigating the cases of five people charged with
killing hunchbacks in western region, Bibiani, for their body parts.
The Ghanian Time and website, Joyonline reported that local police
are seeking the Attorney General, Joe Ghartey’s advice in the case.
The five people in custody have been linked to the July murder of a
65-year-old Yakubu Busanga, whose body was found with its hump cut
off, three days after she was kidnapped.
(...)
The police were investigating three more cases, The Time said.
Officials have said these are only three of a set of murders where
people were killed and their humps, hearts and other body parts were
removed for ‘ritual purposes.’
(...)
Bibiani District Police Commander Sampson Anane-Appiah told the
Times that from January to July, the police recorded nine such
murders within Bibiani and nearby areas, reportedly for this purpose.
(...)
December 1, 2008
- Three arrested in connection with murder of hunchback
The Bibiani Police on Thursday arrested three people in
connection with the murder of Musa Iddi, one of the hunchbacks found
dead with the hump removed.
The three are Nuhu Billa, alias Apana, Alidu Musah, Alias Ton and
Abudu Rahman, alias Taller who is a butcher, while the fourth person
is at large.
(...)
Meanwhile, the Bibiani Police is hunting for the fourth culprit and
has appealed to the public to assist with any information to
facilitate his arrest while they continue with their investigations.
August 17, 2008
Vestiges of Barbaric Animalistic Ritual Murders in Ghana
August 19, 2008
- Woman murdered for ritual purposes
The police at Tepa in the Ashanti Region have arrested three people,
including a 17-year-old boy, for the murder of a 56-year-old woman,
Afia Yinka, alias No Lie, for ritual purposes.
The woman was butchered in her farm at Tepa, where her assailants
were said to have used a calabash to collect blood from the body.
The 17 -year-old boy, Stephen Ofori, was arrested alongside Isaac
Apraku and Justice Adusei Baffour, all natives of Tepa.
(...)
They would re-appear before the Tepa Circuit Court on August 15,
2008.
Ofori, who was arrested on July 23, 2008, was first remanded by the
Tepa Circuit Court when he appeared before it.
While in custody, he was said to have told the police that Adusei
Baffour and another man (now at large) butchered the deceased and
bribed him ( Ofori) with GH¢40 to keep his mouth shut.
(...)
August 7, 2008
- Hunchbacks under threat.
The Bibiani police are appealing to the
public to assist them to unravel an emerging gruesome phenomenon
there of hunchbacks being allegedly killed and their humps removed
for suspected ritual purposes. "Within a spate of seven months (January to July) nine alleged
murders have been recorded within Bibiani and its environs,"
Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr Anane-Appiah stated. The mysterious murders, he said, involved missing people who were
later found with parts of their body organs, such as the heart,
missing. (...) Obervers note that the horrible killings of people with natural
offlictions have recently also been reported from Tanzania. At least
25 people with albinism have been killed this year, mostly in the
Lake Victoria zone, in Tanzania, a BBC report stated. See under
Tanzania.
July 29, 2008
- 'Ritual killing' rescue.
Police in Ghana are trying to reunite a
teenage boy, Akwesi Buabeng, with his family after rescuing him from
what they suspect was a ritual killing. (...) Akwesi is lucky to be
alive after two men took him from the Volta region to Sefwi-Asawinso
in the west of Ghana and tried to sell him. (...)
The police confirm that in the last two months there have been two
other cases in the same area (...).
July 9, 2008
- A priest in Ghana's Central Region
has confessed to killing eight people including his ex-wife since
the beginning of the year, saying they were slain for ritual
purposes.
December 12, 2006
- (It happened in 1944...)
(....) According to a Colonial Office report on the disturbances in
the Gold Coast, “[t]he Kibi affair changed the pattern of Gold Coast
politics. A number of Kibi people were tried for the ritual murder
at the time of the funeral, in 1944, of Nana Sir Ofori Atta,
Omanhene of Akyem Abuakwa. They were defended in a notoriously long
trial by many lawyers led by Dr. J.B. Danquah and employed by their
relatives. The bitterness of this family over the trial and the
conviction of some among their relatives as murderers resulted in
their instituting an uncompromising political campaign against the
Governor and the Government. This group subsequently formed the hard
core of the extreme nationalists who in August 1947 founded the
United Gold Coast Convention”.
In: Why dilute Mills'Founder's Day with Founders'Day?
March 9, 2009
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Historical overview and background
The following excerpts are from the report of the National
Reconciliation Commission, created in 2002, to investigate human rights
violations in the 1959 - 1993 period - a must read for anyone interested
in human rights and Ghana.
Italics and underligning added by Fred Van Der Kraaij.Chapter 9:
The Role of Religious Bodies - Complicity or Resistance to Human Rights
Abuses
9.1.1 History
9.1.1.1 (...)
9.1.1.2 (...)
9.1.1.3 The role that traditional religion played in human rights abuse
was an indirect one. Rumours of rituals for protection have become part
of our socio-political culture. The phenomenon of ritual murder has
been part of the Ghanaian system of cultural beliefs, and has, in
fact, gained prominence in legends and folktales. This phenomenon has
also served as explanation for strange or extraordinary homicide cases
in the country.
9.1.1.4 There was also an Akan belief that a messenger must accompany a
dead chief on his last journey to the land of his ancestors. Someone
therefore had to be killed to serve that purpose. The murder of Akyea
Mensa (Apedwahene), a case popularly referred to as “Kyebi Murder Trial”
was purported to have served as a ritual sacrifice, to accompany a dead
paramount chief of Kyebi. The deceased was killed and buried on a
riverbed, after the murderers had diverted the course of the brook and
redirected the same brook to conceal the grave .
9.1.1.5 Another belief system relates to the acquisition of power
through the use of juju. This involves rituals performed with human
blood or body parts.
On 23th February, 1988, Nana Twene, Krontihene of Abesim, and his
wife, Susana Ameyaa, together with four others at Abesim near Sunyani,
in the Brong Ahafo Region , kidnapped and murdered a 38-year old
housewife, Madam Lamley Sampah. During the trial by the tribunal
sitting in Sunyani in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana, it was revealed,
inter alia that, the Krontihene wanted the blood and some body parts of
the named victim to enable him secure power, so that, no one could
challenge him when he spoke.
9.1.2 Traditional Religion In Relation To Ritual Killing For Political
Power
9.1.2.1 In the 1960s, rumour was rife, that office holders carried
out ritual killings to consolidate their political power. In 1967, for
example, during the abortive coup in which Lt-Gen Emmanuel K Kotoka
lost his life, it was widely rumoured that the fetish priests who made
juju for his successful coup the previous year, were the same ones whom
the coup makers from Ho Mortar Regiment approached. This therefore
accounted for the ability of the coup makers to overcome Lt-Gen Kotoka.
Whether these rumours were true or not (...).
9.1.2.2 (...)
9.1.3 Traditional Religion In Relation To Killing For Ritual Purposes
9.1.3.1 Traditional religion has also been linked to human rights abuse
on account of the widely-held belief that through the use of human parts,
rituals could be performed to affect the material circumstances of the
individual making the request. Consequently, some individuals were
killed for purposes that must have been related to the performance of
rituals. The circumstances surrounding certain killings that occurred,
and the way the dead bodies were found, lent credence to the suspicion
that they were not ordinary murders. Very often the bodies were found
mutilated with some vital parts missing.
A number of murder cases reported in some parts of Ghana in the 1980s
fall into this category. For instance, in January, 1981, the
body of Kingsley Ackaah, alias Kwame Kaya, a fifteen-year-old
schoolboy and native of Baakrom near Sefwi Bekwai, was found without his
head . Again, in November, 1981, the body of nine-year old
Kwasi Gyimah was found at the outskirts of Sefwi Bekwai without his
head . Similarly, in November, 1984, Kwaku Nkrumah, a sixty
five-year old palm wine tapper of Sefwi Bekwai, was found dead in the
bush without his head. Also, in May, 1986, thirteen-year old
Akwasi Ampomaning, a schoolboy from Sukusuku near Sefwi Bekwai was
found dead with his arms missing . Again, Kumade Mensah Zormelo
was killed for a sacrifice that is required annually, in accordance with
traditional practices, to enable the fishermen of Kedzi, to have bumper
fishing season. All these killings are believed to have been committed
to serve ritual purposes.
9.1.3.2 There is also the quest for wealth. For this reason, there are
some people who believe that through the use of juju, their state of
poverty can change for the better. Thus, with the hope of becoming rich
overnight, the drive to commit ritual murder has been noted among
certain categories of persons. In one murder case, which took place in
Sefwi Bekwai in the Western Region of Ghana, the killers were
the victim’s uncle and three other men, who were promised a reward
of an amount of c3 million as “contract fee”. Similarly, the Chief,
Nana Agyei who was charged together with the killers, was said to
have been the one who requested a human head, to send to a shrine
located along the Ghana - Côte d’Ivoire border in the Western Region for
it to be changed into cash .
9.1.4 The Perpetrators Of Ritual Murder
9.1.4.1 There are two main categories of perpetrators – namely, those
who hire the services of others to do the killing on their behalf, and
those who do the killing themselves.
Many a time, the people who are arrested or charged on murder cases
appear to be poor people, struggling to make ends meet. They are hired
by the well-to- do in society to do the killing on their behalf, such as
the case of the Sefwi Bekwai murder case. Nana Agyei, one of the
culprits, was said to have engaged the services of the four others
charged, in return for a certain amount of money, if the plan was well
executed. In other instances, the well-to-do actually took part in the
ritual killing.
9.1.4.2 Some fetish priests and herbalists are also believed to be
involved in ritual murder. Some fetish priests have been accused of
using human body parts and blood to prepare juju for their clients.
Where these body parts and blood were secured from, is yet to be
ascertained. However, one of the rumoured charges against some
traditional priests tortured and killed in the Volta Region, was the
allegation of murder against them. In April, 1982, for instance,
soldiers arrested Avorga Ahiagba of Wlite near Akatsi, for possessing
human skulls. He was alleged to have pleaded that the skulls were
ancestral property. Possessing no other evidence to the contrary, the
court fined him ¢700.00. Subsequently, Ahiagba mysteriously disappeared,
after his release from prison-custody, but was later found dead with his
body partially burnt, near the Ho stadium.
9.1.4.3 In all the known ritual murders tried in the courts, women have
been conspicuously missing in the list of alleged perpetrators. There
was, however, one instance in which a woman was involved, and in which
the victim was a woman.
9.1.4.4 One other fact that also needs to be mentioned is that some of
the perpetrators either know their victims or have close blood relations
with them. In the case of Kofi Kyinto in the Sefwi Bekwai murder
case, it was his uncle, Benjamin Affi, a 28-year old farmer, who lured
him to be killed. Benjamin Affi witnessed the actual execution of
his nephew.
This extraordinary overview of human rights abuses in the 1959 - 1993
periode contains one chapter that focuses the role of religious bodies
and treats ritual killings (chapter 9).
Source:The
report of the National Reconciliation Commission.
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