Clubs pay silent tribute to lynched military commander Captain Mahama

Ghana Premier League clubs and fans observed a minute’s silence before the kick-off of Week 17 matches of the Premier League agmes on Sunday, in memory of the late Captain Maxwell Mahama.

Capt. Mahama was murdered in Diaso in the Upper Denkyeira West District of the Central Region by a mob who mistook him for an armed robber.

The minute of silence was also aimed at drawing national attention to the increasing barbaric incidents of instant mob justice in some parts of the country.

The GFA condemns such acts, particularly the unfortunate murder of Captain Mahama, and urges all to join in the campaign against such brutish mob attack on fellow citizens.

Capt. Mahama was lynched on Monday, May 29 after he was mistaken for a thief.

A snail seller raised a "false alarm" about the identity of the young military officer after she saw a pistol on him.

Suspecting he was an armed robber, and two days after the community was attacked by armed robbers, he told the Assemblyman of the Denkyira Obuasi, who also mobilised the townsfolk to lynch him.

On the day he was murdered, Capt. Mahama went jogging to familiarise himself with the area after he was sent there to replace a platoon commander, the military have explained.

READ MORE: Woman who raised 'false alarm' leading to the lynching of Captain Mahama identified

According to the IGP, the young military officer stopped to buy snails, and when he took money from his pocket to pay for the snails, the trader saw the pistol and informed the assemblyman of Denkyira Obuasi that the military officer was an armed robber.

Without verifying the claims of the snail seller, the assemblyman and armed residents accosted the military officers and lynched him using cement blocks, clubs among others.

So far, the police have arrested 18 people in connection with the murder.