Former president John Dramani Mahama has expressed his regrets and condolences to the family of Captain Maxwell Mahama who was lynched and burnt by some angry youth in  Diaso a town in the Central Region where he was deployed to serve at. The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday morning when Capt. Maxwell Mahama was on his routine jogging exercise.

President Mahama took to twitter to offer his condolence to the wife and family of the army captain.  He tweeted, ““My heart goes out to my brother, Capt. Chubby Adam Mahama (Rtd.) on the murder of his son, Capt. Maxwell Mahama. #RestinPeaceMaxwell.”

“And my condolences to the wife of Capt. Maxwell Mahama, his young children & to his mother on the loss of her only son. #RestinPeaceMaxwell.”

According to reports, captain Maxwell Mahama who is an officer of the 5 infantry Battalion, had his gun on him while jogging which caused some residence who saw that to raise an alarm attracting some youth in the town who attacked and killed him. According to the youth of the town there had been some armed robbery attacks the day before, and so they were on the look out for the criminals, so when they saw Captain Maxwell Mahama in civilian clothes and having a gun on him they mistook him as one of the robbers.

Other reports seem to suggest the soldier’s murder has something to do with his mission in the area to fight illegal small-scale mining otherwise known as ‘galamsey’

Meanwhile, the Ghana Armed Forces has called for calm among military personnel who may be incensed and wish to retaliate. It has said it is working together with the other security agencies to unravel the circumstances under which the officer was murdered.

Some soldiers have reportedly stormed the town, where they have held about 80 men hostage and according to the DCE for the area, the soldiers have beaten some of the men and have also detained some women and children have in a church building.