In La, a crowd surrounded a dying young man believed to be in his mid-twenties lying in a pool of blood with bruises all over his body.
The surrounding crowd rained insults on him; others looked on with sorry-looking faces. What crime has this young man committed to warrant such horrific treatment even to the point of death? They thought aloud. His crime was he had snatched a lady’s handbag containing phones, money, and some other items.
There he was, motionless, breathless on the ground, in a pool of blood, beaten to a pulp and left to die.
This scenario is not new to any Ghanaian.
Mob injustice has existed in many human societies for a very long time and Ghana is no exception. Mob injustice and other civil brutalities take many forms and shapes like flogging, stoning, striping suspects naked, and setting them ablaze.
The average Ghanaian will prefer to let go of any other offender but lynch a suspected robber or thief rather than allowing a fair trial.
It makes one wonder why people die at the hands of violent mobs in Ghana.
Truly, the frequency of robbery has been a major contributor to mob injustice or lynching, and sometimes innocent people fall victim to this barbaric act.
People who engage in this act are usually onlookers or people passing by or an organized group also known as “community vigilantes” whose aim is to protect the community from criminals.
In Ghana, it is not only alleged criminals that sometimes face mob injustice; people suspected to be witches, wizards, adulterers, and homosexuals sometimes find themselves in such situations.
Though Ghana has criminalized this practice in the resolve to weed it out, obviously more must be done to end this act.
Mob injustice can end when Ghanaians begin to see the law courts as the place to seek justice and not the use of stones, sticks, machetes, and other offensive weapons.
Henceforth, we should never lose any person to mob injustice.
Many individuals have been sent to an early grave through mob injustice. Some of these victims may be innocent.
- Soldier Allegedly Killed At Ashaiman
Sheriff Imoro, a 22-year-old soldier with the Ghana Armed Forces band in Sunyani in the Bono Region was killed at Taifa, a suburb of Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region.
According to reports, he was stabbed several times by unknown attackers in the early hours of Saturday, March 4, 2022.
The soldier was said to be returning from his girlfriend’s house in Taifa and heading toward his residence at Zongo-Laka in Ashaiman when the unfortunate incident occurred.
He was carrying a laptop and other electronic gadgets, his attackers made away with only his iPhone.
Sheriff was in Accra for a military course and in the last three weeks, had been visiting the parents in their home at Ashaiman every Friday.
- Major Mahama lynched
The late Major Mahama of the 5th Infantry Battalion, Burma Camp, Accra, was on duty at Denkyira-Obuasi, and on May 29, 2017, some residents allegedly mistook him for an armed robber and lynched him.
The mob had ignored his persistent plea that he was an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces.
The Assembly Member and 13 others are still in prison custody after they pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit a crime, murder, abetment of crime, and other charges.
- Lynching of Akua Denteh
On Thursday, 23 July 2020, a 90-year-old woman, Madam Akua Denteh was beaten to death in broad daylight at Kafaba near Salaga, a well-known slave market in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Salaga and Kafaba are in the East Gonja Municipality of the newly created Savannah Region carved out of the Northern Region.
A fetish priestess declared Madam Akua Denteh the witch responsible for the burning of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) youth shed.
The priestess also accused the old woman of being responsible for the irregular rainfall at Kafaba. She, therefore, recommended the lynching of Madam Akua Denteh.
- 60-Year-Old Woman Nearly Killed Over Witchcraft Allegations
A 60-year-old woman, Amina Mahama, escaped death by the whiskers after an attack by residents of Nakpali, a farming community in the Zabzugu District.
The residents burnt the woman’s house to ashes and would have been killed but for the intervention of the police.
An eyewitness Musah Shani said a branch of a baobab tree fell on a young man, Sulemana Issah, in the community killing him instantly.
The residents accused the woman of being the cause of the unfortunate incident and torched her house on Tuesday, April 19, 2021.
- Juaboso: Suspected Robber Burnt To Death In Front Of Police Station
A man alleged to be a member of a suspected syndicate behind robberies in the Juaboso and adjoining districts in the Western North Region was burnt to ashes in front of a Police station by some angry youth.
Three members of the said syndicate were apprehended by the youth, however, one managed to escape while the police managed to rescue the third suspect before they could lynch him.
Eyewitnesses said the suspected robber was exposed after he was seen holding half a dozen mobile phones while trying to board a vehicle at the main Bonsu Nkwanta Lorry Station to Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
- 40-Year-Old Man Lynched In Nyankpala
A 40-year-old man was lynched in Nyankpala in the Northern Region for allegedly stealing goats and sheep.
The deceased, Fatawu Alhassan, and two others were caught in the act.
The two, however, managed to escape while the deceased was caught in the process, attacked, and killed by unknown persons.
- Mobile Phone Thief Nearly Lynched At Gomoa Akwamu
A man believed to be in his late 30s, narrowly escaped lynching after he allegedly stole mobile phones from a native doctor’s house at Gomoa Akwamu in the Central Region.
The incident occurred on Monday, February 13, 2023.
According to the report, the suspect was spotted stealing mobile phones and an unspecified amount of money from some accident victims who are receiving herbal treatment at the Native Doctor’s house.
His action infuriated the youth who grabbed him and tied him up with rope on a concrete pillar and gave him severe beatings.
- Plantain Thief Beaten To Death At Bisease
40-year-old Kwame Essel was lynched for stealing plantain on a farm at Ajumako Bisease in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam District of the Central Region.
The deceased said to be a notorious plantain thief was caught in the act with his accomplice who bolted after seeing the owner of the plantain approaching.
The suspect was beaten to a pulp and was rushed to the Ajumako Bisease Polyclinic for treatment, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.