Residents of New Suame in Kumasi yesterday morning experienced the shock of their lives when they woke up from their sleep to see a miniature coffin placed strategically in their peaceful neighbourhood. The yellowish wooden ‘Sakawa’ coffin was stuffed with three dolls- two males and one female- and placed in front of a house adjacent to the New Suame Pentecost Church, where a wedding ceremony was scheduled to be held. The female doll was dressed in a wedding gown with a gold-looking wedding ring put on its finger. The female doll was lying on its back with one male doll, dressed like a man in wedding clothes, placed on top of it. The other male doll, which was also exquisitely dressed, was laid behind the supposed man and wife dolls. The coffin was placed on a white cloth and its top was covered with a red cloth. Incidentally, a certain Sister Afia, an inhabitant of the house, was having her wedding that same day at the Christ Apostolic Church. Speculations were rife that one of the persons in yesterday’s wedding might have jilted somebody who, out of anger, had contracted ‘jujumen’ to place the coffin at that strategic point. The horrendous spectacle, which had never been observed in the area, sent shivers down the spine of curious residents who thronged the scene in their numbers. Residents were however afraid to go near the coffin, let alone remove it from the entrance of the house. Some Pentecost church pastors were approached and they prayed fervently before setting the coffin ablaze. It was not known who actually placed the coffin in the area, but sources speculated that it could be masterminded by people who were against Sister Afia’s impending wedding that day. Narrating the whole episode to Daily Guide, Richard Karikari aka ‘KK’ of Otec FM said one taxi driver saw the coffin placed in front of the house around 5.00am. The terrified driver raised an alarm and within a matter of minutes, the whole area was swarming with people. According to him, ‘brave men’ in the area were contacted to remove the coffin but they refused to do it, also out of fear. As the terror-stricken neighbours groaned about what to do, he said, some Pentecost pastors that were attending church were contacted. The pastors immediately appeared at the scene and prayed fervently for almost one hour over the coffin. Afterwards, the pastors poured some petrol on it and tried on three occasions to set it ablaze, but to no avail. The pastors prayed again and tried the fourth time and this time they succeeded in burning the coffin. KK said residents stood at the scene for several hours, brainstorming over who might have brought the coffin to the area. He said Sister Afia was later on moved from the house to a different location in preparation for the wedding, which eventually came off successfully at CAC in the afternoon. The mother of Sister Afia, who refused to mention her name, said this incident would not prevent her daughter from getting married. According to the lady, the daughter had her engagement ceremony about a week ago. Source: Daily Guide