The Minister for Defence, Mr Dominic Nitiwul has said the lynched Captain Maxwell Mahama shot and wounded one attacker in an attempt to defend himself, when he came under attack at Denkyira Obuasi and Monday.
“What I can confirm to you is that he wounded somebody by shooting him in an attempt to defend himself,” the Defence Minister said in a radio interview.
Subsequently, he expressed the hope that the injured person, if quizzed, can provide a good lead for investigators.
The late Captain Mahama, leader of the platoon detailed to a mining company at Denkyira-Obuasi, was about to be promoted to a ‘Major’ after he successfully sat his examinations a few weeks ago, Mr Nitiwul revealed.
Speaking in a radio interview on Accra based Joy FM Tuesday morning, Mr Nitiwul said the late officer was posted to the area about three weeks ago to relieve the Commander of the military personnel who were guarding a local mining company. The Platoon Commander had come to Accra to sit for an examination.
Captain Mahama of the 5 Battalion of Infantry was lynched by locals when he went for a morning jog Monday. He was allegedly stoned and burnt by the locals who mistook him for an armed robber.
“This is a very serious matter for us in the military…To lose just one single life is a very big thing to us and to lose one soldier is something that we take very seriously,” the Minister said.
Mr Nitiwul said Maxwell’s father, a retired army officer, Twumbi Mahama is ravaged by the news of his son’s death. The Minister believes there is more to the story than meets the eye.
An uncle of the deceased, Prof. Fred Bagonluri also said the late “Maxwell lived and breathed the Ghana Armed Forces”.
He recounted how his nephew discussed with him a few weeks ago, his plans to further his education at the post-graduate level.
“He wasn’t just a soldier, he was a scholar,” the Uncle also said in the Joy FM interview.
Prof. Bagonluri wondered why a group of citizens would commit such heinous crime by taking the life of another citizen who has sworn to defend the country with his life.
“A man who decides to serve his nation has to die in war not to be killed by the people he swore to defend…If he has to die this way then it challenges my citizenship,” he said.
He prayed that justice would be served.
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