Highway robbers kill trader, rob others of possessions

A 45-year-old woman was shot dead, while three men, including a soldier, sustained serious injuries when suspected armed robbers opened fire on them on the road between Akyem Asanteman and Asuboa on the Oda Accra road on Tuesday night.

The deceased, whose body has been deposited at the morgue of the Oda Government Hospital, has been identified as Madam Mary Akua Boadua, a Kasoa-based trader in foodstuffs and native of Upper Agona Bobikuma.

Two of the injured persons, Cletus Kluvi, a 50-year-old teacher of the Asanteman Presbyterian Primary School, and Corporal William Agbenyagah, who is on course at the Jungle Warfare School at Akyem Achiase, are responding to treatment at the same hospital.

The driver of a 207 Mercedes Benz bus, with registration number GR 5374 W, Mr Jafaru Zachariah; who was shot in the head at close range, resulting in the loss of an eye, is in critical condition and has been transferred to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

The masked robbers, numbering about eight and wielding pump-action and locally-manufactured guns, blocked the road with logs and ordered more than 100 passengers on board 12 vehicles to lie down in the middle of the road, after intimidating and robbing them of huge sums of money, mobile phones and other belongings.

Briefing the Daily Graphic at Akyem Oda on Wednesday, the Oda Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Ben Atadana, said at about 9.50 p.m. on Monday, policemen on barrier duty at Asanteman near Oda reported to the police station that eight suspected armed robbers had attacked and robbed passengers on board a number of vehicles from Oda towards Accra and vice versa of their cash, mobile phones and other personal belongings, shot dead a woman trader and seriously wounded three other passengers.

According to Chief Supt Atadana, when he despatched a team of policemen to the scene, the robbers had fled into the bush with their booty.

He said at about 9.20 p.m., the robbers stopped a Mercedes Benz bus, with registration number GT 356 X, on which Madam Boadua and Mr Kluvi were travelling from Oda to Accra.

He said the robbers opened fire on the pas¬sengers, although they offered no resistance, resulting in the death of the woman.

The Divisional Commander said even though no arrest had been made, the police had intensified their search for the robbers and, therefore, appealed to the general public to provide them with vital information on any suspicious elements in the area for them to be apprehended.

When the Daily Graphic team visited two of the injured persons at the Oda Government Hospital, arrangements were being made to transfer the soldier to the 37 Military Hospital in Accra after he had survived a surgical operation to save his life.

The grief-striken 53-year-old husband of Madam Boadua, Mr Samuel Nyarko, who learnt of his wife's death only the following day, could not control his tears when he found the wife lying motionless at the mortuary of the hospital.

Two of the victims, Mr Twum Barima Bredu, also known as Okyeman, the Communications Manager of Engineering and Logistical Services of the Ahafo Gold Project, and Mr Fiifi Aboagye, the managing director of an Oda-based timber firm, told the Daily Graphic that they narrowly escaped death when the robbers shot at them but missed their target.

Meanwhile, the Birim South District Chief Executive, Mr Frank Kwame Busumtwi, has lamented the fact that the police were operating under difficult conditions, including the lack of vehicles and communication equipment.

He, therefore, made a passionate appeal to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) for assistance to enable the police in the area to operate more effectively.

Culled from Daily Graphic