Scrap Dealer Arrested For Beheading Vultures For Sale

A 35-year old scrap dealer, Amuzu Mohammed, is in the grips of the Adiembra police for beheading vultures at some refuse dumps in Fijai and selling each head for GHc5.00. The Takoradi District Police Crime Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Huseini Awinaba told the Ghana News Agency that the suspect was arrested by some youth at Fijai at about 1915 hours on Wednesday. The Crime Officer said the suspect is a scrap dealer who resides at Kwesimintsim Lagos Town but moved from one refuse dump to another collecting scrap. On Wednesday, February 01, this month, Mohammed was seen by a refuse dump overseer holding the head of a vulture at a refuse dump at Fijai and raised the alarm. The suspect was arrested by some youth in the town and brought him to the Adiembra police station. DSP Awinaba stated that upon interrogation, Mohammed admitted beheading the carcasses of the bird and sold them to one Nigerian woman on Sundays at Takoradi Market Circle for Ghc5.00 per head. He, however, denied ever selling them to �chop bar� operators in the metropolis. The suspect could not state what the woman used the heads of the vultures for but claimed he had operated for four months now. Mohammed claimed he had beheaded eight vultures so far and operated at refuse dumps at Fijai, Kojokrom, Essikadu, Sekondi and Mpintsin in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis. DSP Awinaba indicated that but for the timely intervention by some elderly people in the town, Mohammed would have been lynched by the irate youth who accused him of using the heads of the vultures for juju. DSP Awinaba said investigations would be instituted into the case so that if Mohammed is found to have killed the birds deliberately, he would be charged for cruelty towards animals. In addition, if he is found to have sold the carcasses to chop bar operators, he would be charged for selling unwholesome food to unsuspecting consuming public.