Two men are battling for their lives after they were inflicted with machete wounds by a man believed to be mentally challenged.

One of the victims had his finger cut off after the incident which occurred at Anyaa NIC, a suburb of Accra in the early hours of Tuesday, September 20, 2022.

According to a report carried by United Television (UTV), the alleged mentally ill man, identified only as Mawuko, was noted for killing residents’ fowl for consumption, but they had always been scared of confronting him because he always held a machete, with which he sometimes terrorised them with.

However, on the day of the incident, one of the victims reportedly learnt that Mawuko was killing his fowl, so he became furious and marched to his place of abode where he confronted him, leading to an argument and a physical struggle.

Mawuko then attempted to use the machete with which he was killing the fowl to slaughter the victim, and in an attempt to defend himself one of his fingers got chopped off.

Another relative of the first victim, who realised that his brother’s life was at risk, rushed to the scene to give him support to disarm Mawuko but he also ended up having his hand split into two halves.

Mawuko is said to have lived in the neighbourhood for many years and built a wooden structure attached to the fence wall of one of the residents.

The worried homeowner had reportedly complained to the police of the area about the likely danger Mawuko posed to the safety of residents, but the law enforcement officers allegedly told him that it was not their job to remove Mawuko from the area.

Fear is brewing in the area over a plot by some community members to take the law into their own hands and deal with the alleged mentally ill man.