The rampant killing of innocent people in recent times is of great concern to many. It is a worrying trend that has put many on alert.
What is more worrying, however, is the involvement of minors in these heinous activities. One would wonder where and how they learn such acts.
One of the recent murders that hit the media waves occurred in Abessim in the Bono Region where Richard Appiah, a 28-year-old man, allegedly conspired with other individuals to end the lives of his brother, and his friend.
Aside from this, Richard is alleged to have kept some parts of their bodies in a refrigerator and buried their intestines on a farm.
This proves that no one and nowhere is safe. Not even our family members who hitherto served as a shield. A similar incident occurred in December 2010 at Assin Gangan in the Central Region, where a man allegedly beheaded his 3-year-old son for ritual purposes.
To know that a family member can do something as gruesome as ending one’s life is more than enough cause for panic and fear in the country.
On Monday, September 13, 2021, the Police arrested and arraigned before court, a 35-year-old driver, Felix Ansah, who confessed to the killing of several people for ritual purposes on live TV- Onua TV.
Long before these incidences of ritual killings is the extermination of the life of 9-year-old Ishmael Mensah Abdallah at Kasoa in the Central Region.
The murderers, who confessed, and are before an Accra High Court facing prosecution are but two teenage friends of the deceased. How harrowing!
The two boys said they had the intention of using the deceased’s body parts for rituals after watching a ritualist on TV who claimed he could give instant riches.
There is a tall list that goes on and on amidst other spurring violent crimes in the country.
The way forward? Attempting to stop the exposure of get-rich-quick schemes will be to nib it in the bud.
Since some of these ritualists use the media to advertise their trade, the National Media Commission (NMC), the media regulatory body, which already started ridding the media space of unlicensed stations should step up its game to completely regulate the media by preventing unwholesome content that contributes to such atrocious acts on our screens
Aside from this, the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) should take down posters and billboards that advertise the services of these ritualists to prevent children from being exposed to their schemes.
Should that prove difficult, the MMDAs and the Advertisers Association of Ghana must collaborate to give permits before the mounting of a billboard within the cities.
As mentioned by the Kasoa teenager murderers, the exposure to such media content contributes, if not the root cause of ritual killings in the country.
Our educational institutions, religious bodies, parents and other stakeholders must use their offices and influence to ensure that the youth and upcoming generation are taught acceptable societal and moral values to ensure a future devoid of killings to get rich quick.
Source: Josephine Badu-Nyarko, Student, Ghana Institute of Journalism
E-mail: josebnyarko@gmail.com
