Three Indian Catholic priests based at Kpassa in the Nkwanta-North District of the Oti Region were brutally beaten by a mob at a fuel station in Nkwanta last Wednesday.
The three Catholic priests are Father Robinson Melkis, Father Frank Henry Jacob, and Father Martin George, all belonging to the Capuchin Friars. They have been engaged in missionary activities in the country since 2005.
They were beaten to such an extent that Father Frank Henry Jacob lost hearing in one of his ears. He has been referred to Yendi Hospital. Parts of the attack were captured in a video which has been widely circulated on social media.
Two other officials of the Nkwanta-South Municipal Assembly who were accompanying them were also assaulted by the mob. They are the Municipal Engineer and the Municipal Town and Country Planning Officer, Samuel Worlanyo Asugbey.
According to the Vicar-General of the Catholic Diocese of Jasikan, Monsignor Joseph Kofi Nsiah, they had gone to hire a bulldozer from the Nkwanta-South Municipal Assembly to work on a piece of land they were preparing to construct a Formation House project for seminarians at Chaiso in the Nkwanta-South Municipality.
They paid an amount of GH¢9,700 and were accompanied by the two officials to move the equipment to the site at Chaiso.
Monsignor Nsiah said they were at a filling station to fuel the equipment when they were attacked by the mob, who accused them of trying to steal the equipment.
He said for 30 minutes, they were beaten mercilessly until they were rescued by officers of the Ghana Immigration Service. The mob then reported to the police that the priests were stealing one of the Assembly’s road equipment.
The Vicar-General stated that upon this report, they were remanded into police custody, and the equipment was impounded. Upon the intervention of the Vicar-General, they have been granted bail pending further investigation.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the National Democratic Congress branch of the Nkwanta-South Constituency has rendered an unqualified apology to the three Indian Catholic Priests and the Jasikan Diocese of the Catholic Church today.
A release issued at Nkwanta and signed by the NDC Constituency Secretary, Prince Succeed Fiagadzi, said they were deeply appalled and saddened by the attack on the Catholic Priests by some youth around 9 am last Wednesday.
They described the act as unacceptable and apologized for the harm, trauma, and distress inflicted on them. “Your selfless dedication to serving humanity and preaching the message of love and compassion deserves utmost respect and gratitude”, they added.