Nigerian man was wrongly accused of being a kidnapper and beaten - Ghana Police

Months after a Nigerian man identified as Ibrahim Azamal was beaten and arrested for allegedly attempting to snatch a 4-year-old boy at Mamobi Polyclinic in Accra, investigations have revealed that he had no link to the incident. 

Azamal who was accused of having accomplices who fled in a car after their cover was blown, was subjected to beating by the mob which gathered before taking him to the nearest police station, Kotobabi Police Station.

The Chronicle reported that the investigator in-charge of the case at Nima Divisional headquarters where it was tranferred to, said statements from different parties involved revealed that the Nigerian man was wrongly accused. 

Further investigation revealed that Azamal is a man with a heart problem who usually buys garlic from a trader in the neighborhood to alleviate his symptoms. His trouble with the angry Ghanaian mob on the Sunday morning he was beaten, began after he ran away shortly after the mother of the 12-year-old girl he was making love advances to started shouting. Azamal was beaten by the angry youths at Zongo junction after the witness who made the kidnap allegation pointed at him when the youths wanted to beat him (witness) up. 

The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit at the Police headquarters also confirmed that the Nigerian man was falsely accused. Though stating that investigation is yet to be concluded, the agency's spokesperson, Davis Oteng- Berchie told Ghanaians to cross-check issues before taking laws into their hands. 

“What if this guy had died due to the beatings that were meted out to him, who would have been responsible for it?” he asked.

The incident reportedly occurred in June during the manhunt for three Nigerians linked to the kidnapping of the Consular-General and Head of Mission of Estonia to Ghana, Nabil Makram Basbous. The kidnapping of the three Takoradi girls: Priscilla Bentum, Priscilla Mantebea Koranchie and Ruth Love Quayson by some suspects said to be Nigerians were also not resolved at the time of the incident.