Security men taking away a ballot box snatcher (inset) Yakubu
Two daring ballot box snatchers met their Waterloo yesterday in two areas in the Ashanti Region as vigilant voters nearly lynched them.
A man believed to be in his mid-twenties escaped death by a whisker when he was beaten mercilessly by an angry mob after his ballot box snatching expedition was foiled in Kumasi, as another person was disciplined at Meduma, a community in the Kwabre East District.
The Kumasi victim, whose name was given as Yakubu, attempted to snatch a ballot box which had been stuffed with ballot papers at a polling station at Ahwia Zongo near Kumasi around 3:30pm.
The people in the area were vigilant, so they rushed in on time to prevent Yakubu from taking away the ballot box containing thumb-printed ballot papers of eligible voters.
Before Yakubu could escape after seizing the box, the angry mob rushed in, got hold of him and started beating him with all manner of offensive weapons including machetes and metals.
The mob, bent on protecting the ballot box at all cost, unleashed venom on Yakubu, who fell heavily to the ground when he attempted to flee to save his life.
After several minutes of beating, Yakubu started bleeding profusely from almost every part of his body as the people continued hitting him with deadly weapons.
Initially, it was feared that Yakubu had died, as he lay motionless on the ground, with blood all over his body, but it was later revealed that he was alive though in a critical condition.
The paper gathered that some Good Samaritans reportedly rushed in on time, appealed to the human side of the angry mob, and this timely intervention was said to have saved the life of Yakubu.
DAILY GUIDE was told that Yakubu was rushed to the hospital.
At Meduma in the Kwabre East District of the Ashanti Region, a young man who, in the company of two others, attempted to snatch a ballot box at a polling station at about 3:30pm, was severely beaten also.
Irate youth of the area, who had been vigilant since voting began in the morning, nearly lynched him after they pursued and reportedly dispossessed him of the ballot box containing ballot papers.
But for the swift intervention of armed security men guarding the Ahwiaa Wood Products Limited where the suspect ran to seek refuge, he would have been lynched.
His accomplices reportedly escaped.
The company’s security men, dressed in military uniform, intercepted him and kept him in a room until a police patrol team arrived at the scene to whisk him away.
While the unidentified suspect was being kept in the room, a van equipped with a sound system patrolled the area, imploring people to be resolute and prevent machomen from snatching the ballot boxes.
Charged by this announcement, residents who were determined to see their preferred presidential candidate declared winner of the polls, threatened to deal ruthlessly with anyone who would dare snatch a ballot box during the polls.
Pandemonium nearly broke out when in the ensuing melee, an innocent man identified as Yakubu Zeba had his hand hacked by an incensed man wielding a machete.
Superintendent Kofi Adu, Kwabre East District Police Commander, told DAILY GUIDE that turnout at the various polling stations he visited in the area was massive and unprecedented.
The District Commander described the elections as generally peaceful and gave the assurance that his men would be effective and efficient to contain any threat to security in the district.
Impressive voter turnout was recorded at every polling station in the Kwabre East, Tafo-Pankrono, Kwabre West, Suame and other constituencies in the region where DAILY GUIDE visited when voting began at 7am.
Generally, voting was peaceful in most constituencies of the Ashanti Region, except for a few hitches resulting from the failure of the verification machine to detect the fingerprint of scores of voters.
Posts
