Three Indian Franciscan Capuchins, Father Robinson Melkis, Father Frank Henry Jacob, and Father Martin George, have been in Ghana since 2005 on missionary work. The priests live and work in Kpassa, in the Nkwanta-North district of the Oti region. They rented a bulldozer from the parish of Nkwanta-South for the building of a formation house in Chaiso.

On December 11, after they rented the bulldozer, the three priests, accompanied by two municipal officials, stopped their travelling to fill up their vehicles. This is the point when the attack happened. While in the gas station, a group of locals gathered and accused the religious of stealing the bulldozer. The mob gathered, attacked the friars and the officials, and beat them up severely. Their beating only stopped after officials from the Ghanaian emigration office showed up 30 minutes later. 

The officials might have saved them, but their hardships did not end. The angry mob filed a complaint with the police accusing the religious of stealing the bulldozer. The police took the religious into custody, but the vicar general of the Jasikan diocese intervened, and they were released. They were transported to the hospital where they received the needed treatment. Father Frank Henry Jacob was in the worst state and lost hearing in one of his ears.

The chief of police in Ghana contacted the president of the Ghanaian Bishops’ Conference after the incident, assuring him that the incident is going to be investigated and all those responsible for the attack will be brought to justice.

Source: Agenzia Fides

Photo: Ingiriya