The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has stated that the middle-aged man who met his untimely death at the Accra Zoo was not a visitor as believed by a section of Ghanaians.
According to the Ministry, the deceased who was attacked and killed by one of the lions at the enclosure at the zoo was an imposter.
The Forestry Commission in a statement had said that the deceased, a middle-aged man was ‘an intruder who jumped the security fences and entered the lion’s den.
The Commission noted further that in the process “the intruder was attacked and injured by one of the lions, within the inner fencing of the enclosure and was confirmed dead from injuries sustained.
“The motive of the intruder is yet to be determined,” It explained in a statement.
But reacting to the matter on the Anopa Bofo morning show, Monday, August 29, 2022, the Deputy Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Bio Owusu clarified that the deceased only invaded the animal park and not as a visitor to the facility.
“When we got there we noticed that the person had climbed the 20-foot fence because you could see the top of the fence had bent inwardly. So it would tell that it was not normal, something perhaps might have happened on that side of the fence.
“But interestingly, the lions didn’t feed on him [the deceased] and that should tell you that when the person invaded and they sensed danger, they became protective of their cubs because they didn’t know what would happen to them. The lions didn’t treat him as meat but as an outsider and intruder.
“We appeal to the general public that the person was not a visitor to the zoo, he didn’t go to the animal park because if he had gone there as a visitor, he would have been taken through the right process which the attendant would have led him to where the lions were housed within their enclosures,” Mr. Owusu explained.
He alluded to the trend of unlawful invasion of security zones by some Ghanaians, saying such acts must be condemned since they endanger human lives.
To avert that canker, the deputy minister who doubles as the Member of Parliament for Atiwa Nwabiagya North Constituency indicated that the Forestry Commission together with the Ghana police will revise the security apparatus to the Accra Zoo for scaling up extra security to prevent outsiders from getting closer to the yard.
Notwithstanding, the Executive Director of the Bureau of Public Safety (BPS), Nana Yaw Akwada, is demanding credible answers from the Forestry Commission on what led to the killing of the victim.
