E/R: Four Persons Nearly Lynched After ‘Sneaking Into’ Apantem To Escape Covid-19 Lockdown

The quick intervention of the Akuapem South District Chief Executive (DCE) and his health emergency management team saved four men who had sneaked into Apantem, a farming community near Aburi in the Eastern Region from being lynched by community members.

The arrival of the four who fled from Accra following the imposed partial lockdown on the capital city triggered agitation and unrest over fears that they could be infected with the coronavirus and may spread it in the community.

The presence of the DCE created fear among the residents who stopped the attack on the men.

The Akuapem South DCE, Frank Aidoo who was on a sensitization tour as part of measures carried out by four assemblies in the Eastern Region to halt the spread of COVID-19 intervened and gave the four money to return to Accra.

“We were on our usual routine to go and educate the villagers on COVID-19 and upon arrival, we were told that these gentlemen had actually sneaked into the village. If we had not gotten there, it would have ended up in a lynch because the residents were quite angry. So what we did was to try and calm them down and later on, we had to ask the people to leave because we couldn't guarantee their safety.”

“We came out with certain modalities and what we wanted to do was to make sure that some of these things are curbed. We had a lot of people coming from Accra when Accra was shut down. So among the things that we told people was that when somebody comes from anywhere, what the person should do is to self-isolate. Once the person does that, we feel that is okay. So at the moment, what we are doing is to educate them,” he explained.

---citinewsroom