AN ARMED ROBBERS' PUNISHMENT TO PASSENGERS AND SECURITY OFFICERS

AN ARMED ROBBERS PUNISHMENT TO PASSENGERS AND SECURITY OFFICERS

My journey from Accra started at exactly 3pm on a Wednesday. The Nissan Patrol I was using had one of its driving mirrors removed and had to be fixed before the journey. I went to the spare parts market at Abbosey Okai – the places was as always filthy with not only grease from the spare parts but plastic waste and different pools of water all over so one has to jump over them. With a mechanic I came to the market with, we went searching for the driving mirror to buy. Our third stop was a shop which deals in mirrors and bonnets, he told us he did not have one but quickly made a phone call and went out. He came with one in 5 minutes and told us it was sold at 300 Ghana cedis no more no less. We left since our budget was 150 cedis. Another parading dealer, the mechanics friend came along and took us to another shop, he left us there for hours until we could not bear it anymore and had to leave there for another place.

Just when we were leaving that shop another young man appeared and asked us to follow him. He led us straight to a shop which had the exact mirror we were looking for, the shop owner told us it was 370 cedis, we bargained and he sold it to us at 245 cedis. Then the young man followed us to the patrol parked in front of the biggest pool of water at Abbosey Okai spare parts market. The mechanic assisted by the young man fixed the mirror within some few minutes. Workmanship – the young man who looks “hot” as in “hotman” requested to be paid 12 cedis for fixing a mirror within 30 minutes. If everybody earns 12 cedis every half hour there would not have been poor Ghanaians. We bargained and he agreed on 5 cedis. The mechanic took 10 cedis.

The 3pm journey to the North begun, the driver of the Nissan Patrol, Rauf is a first timer driver in Accra. He did not know his in and outs. I had to give directions until we hit rode over the Ofankor flyover. On the Nsawam bypass, I observed the vehicle could not go beyond 100kmp I asked Rauf and he explained there was a fault with the speedometer. Many vehicles came to overtake us, anytime a vehicle overtakes us the driver looks back at us…probably retorting why a Nissan Patrol could be overtaken by Volkswagen Beetle or a B registered Urvan. Being his first time of plying the route I was mentioning almost every village and town names to Rauf especially on the trouble Suhum Nsawam road – started four years ago. Marriakrom, Obretema a malaria free zone, Teacher Mante, Asuboi, Mankrong, Amanase, Suhum, Omenako, Densuso and Apedwa. On the rough Suhum Nsawam road the patrol feared no other vehicle, that was its smooth road.

Between Akyem Asafo and Anyinam, the rains started heavily, many veheicles who had overtaken us parked by the flanks of the road since they could not see very well. We also passed and overtake few overloaded trucks still moving in the rain. Natures ways just as we neared the outskirts of Anyinam the sun brightly showed. We continued until our first stop at Enyeresi as Rauf wanted to buy red oil “dzomi” for his mother. Immediately we stopped, the woman holding different items came to us and we could not even open our doors to get down. Aggressively they were forcing us to buy everything they were holding. We looked and looked through the women and there was one woman who was not the aggressive type, we approached her and bought the dzomi, at the same place we bought palm nuts from another woman who wanted to make a fortune seeing a Nissan Partol parked in front of her. She nearly forced all her palm nuts on us but we stood firm and left them, but not before we bought some bananas as Rauf told me he was a “monkey” we continued to New Koforidua and stopped again. As usual they rushed to the vehicle but here we only wanted to buy plantain. The aggressive nature might be from the book, we bought a few bunches. Then came to my driver, a lady carrying two young boys…she started in Akan “to me die3 na me nya sika fa t) eduane ma me mma” buy mine so I could get money to buy food for my children. Then came to me an old lady too she started “abrewa ko akura to bi ma no na onko, nti wo sika yi wan ma me bi” the old lady is going to the village, buy some from me.

We moved as fast as the 100kmp could take us bearing in mind if it is 9pm we will be stopped by the police military escort team between Techiman and Kintampo. We tried but we could not even meet the first escort which was 9pm as we got to the point at 10pm. At Pampromso where the escort begins, we had to wait for an hour to allow as many vehicles to join the escort which moves at 11pm. Within the one hour a lot happened, the weather was cold and insects were all over. Locals took advantage of the situation and sell in the night. you could find every kind of food stuff you need at this place. The sad aspect is that children as young as 5 years also sell pure water or yam at that time of the night. One of the police men lamented “see this old woman, instead of sleeping by this time she is here in the cold in search of money”

In the cold night we heard the night hawkers cry…bayere ooo bayere, yam oo yam – ab3 woaha oo, I have palm nuts – pure water, orange, ntoes, tomatoes. I called one young girl and asked her, she sold yam. “do you attend school? No answer came then I asked in the local language…woko school? She replied dabi meaning she does not. She told me she came from the north and could not speak English nor the Twi popularly spoken in those areas. I bought the three pieces of yam she was carried. Whiles waiting for the 11pm take off, some passengers and tied hawkers laid their cloths on the ground and took naps….Rauf and I were listening to good reggae tunes on Adepa Fm, I danced to shake off the cold. While I was dancing one military man approached after moving from the start of the convoy fifteen vehicle away. He got interested in the Nissan Patrol – he asked Rauf …is that your car? He replied yes, then the soldier told him move to the front, your car will lead the escort. What a sad situation the police military did not have even a motor bike, so they have to use passenger vehicles. One policeman joined my car and others joined the VVIP bus behind us. Most passengers lamented “all the escort team is in front, what happens if the robbers lay ambush in the middle or from behind where the last vehicle was” unfortunately there was a truck load of eggs which everybody had overtaken. He was the last car of over 50 vehicles. At 11pm exactly the convoy took off and a tico taxi just overtook us as the escort leaders, the police asked my driver to chase taxi…he tried but the 100kmp was not enough to get the taxi. We drove for about 15 minutes and we stopped to meet those coming from Kintampo where the escort teams usually switch. Here we had to wait for the poor egg truck, then came into the Patrol a soldier man …when he sat for some few minutes, he started dozing off…he slept until we reached a barrier just at the outskirt of Kintampo. They got off and asked us to proceed.

The Kintampo town is always lively as business booms all the time due to passing vehicles. At the other outskirt of Kintampo another escort team awaits. Most of the vehicles including mine got to the second stop point at 12:40pm and we had to wait till 2pm when the escort convoy begins. Hawking activities here was more than that of the first escort base. Here, kebab sellers, bread, orange, yam, red oil, tea makers, fried rice, banana, yam and plantain were all here. Their selling cries filled the air and as usual minors were there as of 12pm. I asked some of them why they were here at that time…they replied, they were selling for their parents others said they were helping people to get some coins.

While waiting, a man approached me and my driver apparently when he heard us say we will be in Tamale at 6am. He asked “Can't we get there in two hours?” no was the answer at best 3 hours. Then he introduced himself as Nigerian traveller aboard a luxurious buss – VVIP that's how he termed it. He started “armed robbers in Nigeria are smart, the guns they use the police do not have that kind and at times they kill police men aboard busses, well Ghana is better” I replied…similarly it is the same, but the Ghanaian robbers few the police military that's why. He continued “almost all your roads are bad, in Nigeria Enu state where I come from all roads are good, and every state is capable of developing its own area and development has become a competition. If you win a senate seat, you will be asked to do a road in your state. That has given us some development and now states want to challenge the capital Abuja” the case is different in Ghana as districts always depend on the common fund, in the Sisala areas of the Upper West Region one hardly sees a tarred road. The Nigerian man however gave praise to the health insurance system as a good thing since it secures the health needs of the Ghanaian. He added Ghana is doing well in providing electricity – probably he did not know of the dum so dum so…on and off syndrome.

Finally it was 2pm and the escort the second of three started. Here even though the Patrol was second in queue no security officer joined. Once we started vehicles overtook each other showing superiority …the proverbial Yutong buses were the most superior as they were way ahead of us. The escort team led us till Buipe and everybody has to fend for himself from that point. From Yapei to Tamale the stretch of road is worse than Suhum Nsawam and made most vehicles slowed down but the Patrol has been proven as fearless of pot holes so we overtook even the superior Yutong and were the first to arrive in Tamale within 3 hours at 5am instead of 4 hours.

It was a lovely journey but questions passengers ask of which I am not left out is…why can't the escort team have at least four strong vehicles probably not a Mahindra, two for the first team and two for the second team. In this way one leads and the other follows the last vehicle. And the hawkers at the first escort stop, maybe street lights could help them and passengers as well as buying in the night could be dangerous to both the buyer and the seller.

In effect the armed robbers have given a punishment to passengers who have to increase their travel hours by two to three hours. Instead of 10 hours passengers now take 12 to 14 hours travelling from Accra to Tamale. The robbers have also given the police military a huge task of ensuring safety on the road but what reward comes with such a sacrifice by the security officers who operate on less powerful weapons and no vehicles? - AN ARMED ROBBERS PUNISHMENT TO PASSENGERS AND SECURITY OFFICERS

Written by: Edem Srem, a Journalist
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