Murder At Sekondi

Residents of Nkotompo, a farming community near Sekondi in the Western Region, are living in fear following the gruesome murder of a 75-year-old man in the area by unidentified gangsters yesterday.

The deceased, Kobina Ackon, a native of Ekumfi Nsafor in the Central Region, was known by the residents as someone who always visited the community park at dawn for prayers.

The residents were therefore dumbfounded when they woke up yesterday to find the headless body of  Kobina, with the severed head lying on a rail track close by.

Some of the residents, who could not fathom why someone would kill the innocent old man, alleged that the perpetrators might have killed ‘the man of God’ for ritual purposes since parts of the deceased’s body were mutilated.

They asserted the killers might have committed the crime somewhere and cut off parts of the deceased’s body before dumping the severed head and the body on the rail track to create the impression that he was killed by a train.

According to the residents, there was nothing to indicate that the old man was decapitated by a train, adding, 'there was no blood on the rail lines.'

When DAILY GUIDE got to the scene early yesterday morning, the body had already been taken to the morgue.

Some residents believed that the attackers might have committed the heinous act at dawn on Wednesday.

They appealed to the police to investigate the case thoroughly and bring the culprits to book.

Mr Anthony Ephraim, Assemblyman for Nkotompo, in an interview with journalists, indicated that Kobina was a staunch Christian, responsible mason and well known in the community.

He pointed out that his murder therefore came as a big surprise to the whole community.

The assemblyman said the community leaders would meet on the matter and come out with some measure to curtail such acts particularly as the Yuletide approaches.

He entreated the community to be security conscious and look out for strange people and report them to the opinion leaders.

Meanwhile, the police in Sekondi have appealed for calm as they investigate the matter and have called on the community members to volunteer information to enable them arrest the criminals.

They also urged the family of the deceased to have faith in the police to arrest the alleged murderers.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi