I am here referring to the news story in which a group of three Ghanaian nationals are alleged to have robbed the country’s commercial attaché at the Ghana Embassy or Consulate in the Saudi city of Jeddah of $ 324,900 and ended up kidnapping and killing the victim with the assistance of two Nigerians (See “Killers of Saudi-Based Ghanaian Diplomat to Be Sentenced Next WeeK” Graphic.com.gh / Ghanaweb.com 4/10/17). What is rather bizarre is that, according to the afore-referenced news report, the two Nigerian accomplices of the three Ghanaian kidnappers and robbers appear to have been brought into the deadly racket as hit men and undertakers.
In other words, the three alleged Ghanaian robbers do not appear to have been courageous enough to have committed their crime in toto and all by themselves, they needed more wicked and hardened Nigerian criminals or would-be criminals to complete the job for them. This, of course, pretty much synchs with the stereotypical narrative of the cold-hearted and pathologically calculating murderous Nigerian of Ghanaian folklore. Among the Akan-speaking Ghanaian ethnic majority, there is a maxim which says that “God is not wicked like a Nigerian.” The farcical notion that, somehow, the average Ghanaian citizen is more humane than the average Nigerian citizen is just that – a deftly crafted farce. In the olden days, maybe. For these days, when it comes to the act of criminality, Ghanaians and Nigerians are a virtual clone. We may not want to admit this, but it is the grim reality of existence in both traditionally sister countries. Or perhaps, I ought to say, brother countries.
Whatever the case may be, this incident involving the brutal murder of the Ghanaian commercial attaché at the country’s consulate in Jeddah does not make sense, for the simple reason that the killers ought to have been fully cognizant of the fact that the Saudi authorities are not the least bit sparing in their application of the death penalty, especially where the naked commission of violent and brutal acts of criminality are concerned. All across the international headquarters of the Islamic world, the grisly art of public decapitation has reportedly been perfected into a fine art which is doggedly pursued with meticulous religiosity, or perhaps I should say studiousness. It is an established familial institution in which a father passes the art of decapitation to a beloved son upon the demise or passing of the former.
The horrific art of public decapitation, held nearly every Friday of the week, the holiest day on the Islamic calendar, is a revered and glorious tradition sanctioned by the Supreme Monarch in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Which may very well explain the alleged fact that the Ghanaian robbers of the unnamed Ghanaian commercial attaché in Jeddah decided to bring their act of robbery to its logical conclusion by contracting to have the two Nigerian criminal convicts summarily execute their victim Mafia-style. We are not told about the nature or details of the investigations that led to the arrest of all five alleged criminal convicts. But it is quite certain that something went terribly wrong. Or it was simply that the five were on some sort of suicide mission.
Whatever the case may be, when they go before the Jeddah Criminal Court judge next week, the five convicts are expected to be meted the severest punishment allowable under Saudi law. We are told in the news report that the public prosecutor handling the case is seeking to have the death penalty imposed on the alleged killers. Allah willing, we hope the killers receive the punishment that they deserve. We also hope that none of the convicts, including the official chauffeur of the deceased diplomat, are not the real killers.
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