A 24-year old man, Issah Abubakari who lives at Mankranso in the Ashanti Region has been hospitalized after cutting his penis and half of his scrotum off because his mother did not give him money to buy a cigarette.
Abubakari dropped out of school when he got to class four after suffering from a strange illness in which the bones in his legs kept coming out.
According to his mother, Bintu Abubakari, for the past two months, his son has been telling them that there is a ‘spirit in his penis’ that always wants him to smoke. His penis, according to what Issah told them, “can shoot 1000 people if he cuts it.”
On 6 March 2019, Abubakari approached his mother and told her he wants money to buy cigarettes. His mother gave him 50 pesewas, however, it was not enough and Abubakari threatened to cut his penis if he does not get a cigarette to smoke.
The 24-year old went for a knife and used it to cut his penis and half of his scrotum off.
The young man was rushed to the hospital at Mankraso with his penis in a polythene bag and was later transferred to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.
Bintu Abubakari and her family have been told by the doctors that they will do surgery but if after four days the blood does not pass through the veins in his penis then they will have to remove it.
Bintu who sells firewood is struggling to pay for the drugs and hospital bills and people who have been visiting their relatives at the hospital are the ones paying for the drugs Issah needs.
Although the doctors at KATH have told his family not to give him the cigarette, Isaah Abubakari is still insisting “if he does not get a cigarette to smoke he would kill himself.”
According to his mother, she has been told that her son has a spiritual attack so unless something is done about it, he will continue to yearn for the cigarette.
by: Nana Asabere
