Capt Mahama's murder: 10 More suspects grabbed, including 12-year-old
Ten more suspects have been arrested in the Ashanti Region in connection with the murder of Captain Maxwell Adam Mahama at Denkyira-Obuasi in the Central Region last Monday.
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The suspects are made up of three females and seven males that include a 12-year-old boy.
The Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ms Juliana Obeng, told the Daily Graphic in Kumasi last Saturday that the arrest took place at Manso Nkwanta, Manso Nkran and Manso Kunyinase, all in the Amansie West District, and Domeabra, near Nyinahin in the Atwima Mponua District.
Nine of the suspects have been transferred to the Police Headquarters in Accra to assist in investigations, while the 10th person, identified as Kwame Tuffour, 36, is being interrogated by the police at Nyinahin.
The police are holding the identities of the nine suspects to their chest, but one of the three women is said to be the one who used her mobile phone to take close shots of Captain Mahama when he was being lynched.
The arrest brings to 26 the number of people allegedly linked to the gruesome murder of the military officer.
Inside story
Captain Mahama was the Commander of a military detachment stationed at Diaso in the Upper Denkyira West District in the Central Region to check galamsey activities.
At 8 a.m. on May 29, 2017, Captain Mahama, wearing civilian clothes but with his sidearm, left his detachment base for a 20-kilometre jogging.
At a press conference in Accra last Friday, the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Bright Oduro, giving a detailed account of events leading to Captain Mahama’s death, said between 8:55 a.m. and 9:25 a.m, the military officer got to the outskirts of Denkyira-Obuasi, where a number of women were selling foodstuffs by the road side.
He stopped to interact with the women and even bought some snails, which he left with the women to keep for him to pick up on his return from the walk.
While he was taking out money from his pocket to pay for the snails, the woman from whom he had bought the snails and a few others saw Captain Mahama’s sidearm tucked to his waist.
Soon after he left the women, one of them telephoned the Assembly Member for Denkyira-Obuasi, William Baah, to report what they had seen.
Baah, instead of verifying the information, is said to have rather mobilised the towns folk to prepare to attack an armed robber who had been sighted by the women.
He called a motor rider, popularly known as Komoko, and, together with another man called Kwesi Buah, proceeded to confront Captain Mahama
Attack
Baah and his group met Captain Mahama near the Denkyira-Obuasi cemetery, which is one-and-a-half-kilometres away from the foodstuff sellers and about the same place where the body was found.
As soon as Baah and the two men spotted Captain Mahama with the sidearm, they accosted him without giving him the opportunity to identify himself.
By that time, the message had spread that an armed robber had been sighted and so other people had come around, wielding all forms of implements, and they started attacking Captain Mahama.
While Captain Mahama was being attacked, he made efforts to explain his identity, while at the same time attempting to flee from his attackers.
Police investigations established that Captain Mahama, in his attempt to escape the attack, jumped onto different motorbikes, but he was not successful in his attempt.
Also, Mr Oduro said, Captain Mahama attempted to escape by jumping onto a timber truck by entering through the passenger side but the attackers fired and shattered the windscreen, causing him to fall off.
There were sporadic shooting from the attackers. The attackers used implements, including clubs, cement blocks and machetes.
Captain Mahama was finally killed about 10 a.m.
