Residents, especially juveniles and women living along the Abesim to Alaska route near Sunyani in the Bono Region, are living in fear, following the gruesome murder of three children at Alaska last Friday.
The police in Sunyani arrested 28-year-old Richard Appiah, who is believed to have murdered the children and kept some human parts in his fridge.
The victims have been identified as his own 12-year-old step-brother, Louis Agyeman Junior, and a 15-year-old Stephen Sarpong, while the third victim is yet to be identified.
Views
A 41-year-old resident, Mr Frimpong Adjei-Mensah, said the entire community was traumatised following the revelations about Appiah’s arrest.
He said residents were afraid to even send their children to their neighbourhood because they could not trust even their neighbours anymore, explaining that on some occasions, children in the area refused to go on errands for the fear of being killed.
Mr Adjei-Mensah urged the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) and the Sunyani Municipal Security Council (MUGSEC) to take the necessary steps to combat the insecurity that had led to some residents living in fear.
Another resident at Alaska, Mr Samuel Danso, expressed shock and dismay about the suspect because he was a popular footballer in the area. Recently, he captained the Abesim Community to win the annual community gala organised in the Sunyani Municipality.
“Until the crime, looking at his demeanour outside and on the field, one can conclude that Appiah is a God-fearing man,” Danso said.
Another resident, Ms Mary Owusu, said: “The only negative thing I can say about Appiah is when he pulled a cutlass on his father.”
She said his father was compelled to vacate the house, leaving the suspect alone.
“I knew him to be a good person until this recent murder case,” she said.
Ms Owusu said she would not trust even his future husband because of what she had seen.
Centre of attraction
Meanwhile, the building at Abesim in which a dead body and human parts were found has become the centre of attraction for many people.
Since the police uncovered the act, people have travelled from far and near to have a look at the house where the main suspect, Appiah, is said to have committed the crime.
Drivers and other commuters plying the area had to slow down while others stopped for a minute to have a look at the house.
Some of the people who spoke to the Daily Graphic said that house where the dead body and human parts were found must be demolished after police investigations.
On Monday, May 17, 2021, a 23-year-old fashion designer, Benjamin Adjei, was busted for allegedly attempting to sacrifice his nephew for money rituals at Abesim.
The suspect was arrested with the help of an informant while on his way to allegedly sacrifice his 13-year-old nephew, Listowel Adjei, after he had succeeded in luring him.
Again, on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, at about 1:30 a.m., a 27-year-old hairdresser, Hilda Asomani, allegedly stabbed her 30-year-old boyfriend, Prince Aboagye, to death in the community as a result of a misunderstanding between the two.
In 2019, a two-year-old boy, Henry Ansah Gyabaah, popularly known as Kobby, who was reported missing, was found dead in a stream at the outskirts of Abesim.
It was suspected that the little boy was killed and dumped in the stream, after he disappeared from his house at about 6 p.m.
Homicide
So far, personnel from the Homicide Unit of the Ghana Police Service had taken over the investigation, after the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, directed the team to do so.
Source: Graphic.com.gh
