Massive grave looting at Awudome cemetry

THE Awudome cemetery in recent times has been under siege by grave looters who have tampered with virtually all the graves in the cemetery in search of treasures.

Following the killing of two suspected grave looters at the Osu cemetery in Accra in the 1980s, graves there have since not been tampered with.

None of the graves at the section where Moslems are buried have been tampered with, an indication that the grave looters are looking for treasures, which they cannot find in the graves of Moslems.

So determined are the looters in their search that the looting has become a daily affair with some digging all manner of places, including access roads.

The inadequate security and lighting systems have facilitated the uncontrolled looting of the graves.

A tour of the Awudome cemetery by this reporter on Wednesday revealed that most family members neglected the graves of their loved ones after organising expensive funerals for them.

The families are,therefore, oblivious of what happens to the tombs of their loved ones.

The chief sexton, Alhaji Annan, told the Daily Graphic that, after, most family members visited the tomb on the first anniversary celebrations many rarely went back to the tombs of their loved ones.

Ghanaians as a people revere the dead, and therefore organise expensive funerals for the departed souls.

This love, however, does not translate into regular visits to the tombs of the beloved as it ends just after the first anniversary.

The cemetery is weedy and Alhaji Annan gave the assurance that it would be cleared of all the weeds by September.