"Wizard" Rescued

The timely intervention by a combined team of the Sunyani police and soldiers from the Liberation Barracks on Wednesday prevented an irate mob from lynching a 20-year-old self-proclaimed wizard who was making a confession during a morning show at Space FM, a Sunyani radio station.

The mob of about 200 who heard the confession of Kwasi Awuah on air had surrounded the radio station with the intention of lynching him after the programme, but the security personnel, who had a hint of the intention of the crowd, managed to whisk him away in a police jeep.

In an interview, Brother George Awuah, the leader of Nyame Ye Kese Prayer Camp at Yamfo, near Sunyani, who allegedly overpowered the self-proclaimed wizard, said between 11 p.m. and 12 midnight last Tuesday, members of the camp were praying when Miss Angelina Wayewaa, a member of the camp, told him she had had a problem.

He said he had told the congregation to intensify their prayers. After the prayers he asked the congregation to thank God because the evil spirit had been defeated, and to their surprise they saw a boy in a white shirt standing at a corner of the room.

He said when he asked the boy of his mission, he initially told a lie but he later said the grandfather of Miss Wayewaa sent him spiritually to come for her, and pleaded with him to exorcise him of the evil spirit to which the spiritualist complied. He said he slept with Awuah that night and the following morning, the boy told him to accompany him to the family house of Miss Wayewaa to brief them on how he was sent to kill her.

According to Brother George, a citizen of Yamfo then telephoned the staff of Space FM who rushed to Yamfo to convey them to Sunyani to tell their story on radio. Miss Wayewaa corroborated what Brother George told this writer.

Throwing more light on the issue, Constable Frank Nyarko-Asiedu of the Yamfo police said around 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, an uncontrollable mob pursued the alleged wizard to the police station in an attempt to lynch him.

He said when questioned, Awuah, who is a school drop-out, allegedly confessed that he was a wizard who was sent by one Mercy from Duayaw Nkwanta to kill Miss Wayewaa, but he was captured by Brother Awuah who was more powerful than him.

According to Constable Nyarko-Asiedu, even though the police do not deal with witchcraft cases, they decided to give Awuah protection at the police station for sometime until some staff from Space FM came to convey him to Sunyani. He accompanied them to Sunyani to ensure Awuah’s safety.