At the Tafo cemetery, inadequate lighting and careless security are making it easier for some dishonest people to break into the enclave and carry out evil deeds.
Concerned locals claim that the only thing that will deter grave thieves and other ritualists from endangering the sanctity of the nearby graves is better lighting.
At the Tafo cemetery, Mohammed Rabiu and his coworkers have made grave digging their everyday task.
Situated on this expansive terrain lies the largest cemetery, Tafo, which is divided into two sections: one for Muslim burials and the other for Christian burials.
In addition to excavating graves, Mohammed Rabiu and his associates are in charge of maintaining the cemetery.
He claims that grave looters are deterred from engaging in such actions during the day by their vigilante presence. Instead, he claimed, these unidentified individuals visit the area at night to carry out rituals and harvest human parts.
Some people also publicly urinate in some areas of the cemetery.
In an interview with Citi News on Monday, Mr. Rabiu stated : “The individuals perpetrating illegal activities here are those who come to perform rituals at the cemetery. We have not caught anyone picking body parts from the graves. Some visit their fetish priest or other soothsayers and are instructed to bury items at the cemetery; we have caught several of them. Some bring in fowls and slaughter them on the graves, which is not helpful.”
“Even if they had prepared those things at home for their children, it would have been better. We cover up such things when we find them at the graves. Some kill and take body parts, while others are instructed to come and collect parts here because the evildoers are everywhere, and they carry out these crimes on our blind side.”
However, he disputes that he and his associates were involved in these actions and claims that they notify the police whenever such complaints are made.
.
“It is not possible to come to us and request a body part at this cemetery. Even if people come, the boys will inform the elders here, and we will hand over such individuals to the police. When they are taken to the police station, they will be questioned if this is an abattoir where meat is sold. We bury people here, and we do not entertain requests for body parts,” he said.
He clarifies that while most people try their best to constantly cover up these graves and rebury exposed human parts, certain people take advantage of them to plunder.
He believes that improving the lighting conditions here will deter evildoers from carrying out their heinous deeds at the cemetery.
“The initiative to enhance the lighting situation at the cemetery will help address these concerns and ward off people with evil intentions. The public should come and help so that their relatives who are brought here for burial will also have a safe resting place. The wrongdoers are everywhere, and they search for body parts to use for money rituals. These individuals must understand that what they do to others will be done to them too, one day,”
He said.
Increased protection at the cemetery is requested by some nearby workers and locals.A local named James Appiah stated,
“When there is enhanced lighting, it will help to brighten up the places. Our Muslim brothers in collaboration with the traditional authorities have constantly cleared the bushy area and that results in the reduction of some negative activities at the cemetery.”
“Sometimes we hear that robbers use this place as a hideout for their arms and weapons,” said Isaaka Bala, another neighbor. If there is light around, it will be harder for those who come to the cemetery to carry out their evil deeds. Some people also come around to steal from the graves.
The assembly member for the area discussed the Old Tafo Municipal Assembly’s intervention to resolve these concerns, as the cemetery land is located inside the Tafo-Ahenebronom Electoral district.
