Correspondence from Eastern Region

Passengers plying the Somanya - Accra road have made a spirited appeal to the Ghana Police Service to mount surveillance on the stretch to safeguard their lives and properties following recent armed robbery incidents on the road.

After months of relative security on the stretch following previous incidents, armed robbers are returning to engage in their nefarious activities on the road, specifically the Somanya-Dodowa stretch, the network that links Yilo Krobo in the Eastern Region to the Shai Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region.

Six armed daredevil muggers around 8pm on Monday, June 12, 2023 struck at Luom junction near Agomeda. The men, masked to conceal their identities blocked the road with timber logs and clubs to rob the drivers and passengers travelling from Accra to Somanya and vice versa whilst shooting indiscriminately.

Another gang, unclear if was the same set that struck on Monday, surfaced three days later at the same spot on the evening of Thursday, June 15, 2023, mounted a road block with a KIA truck and robbed passengers of valuables.

The robbers dressed in full military camouflage, absconded with an unspecified amount of money, mobile phones and other personal belongings while shooting indiscriminately in the air.

A 78-year-old victim and resident of Odumase-Krobo, Sipim Osakonor who was travelling in a commercial vehicle from Accra to Odumase narrating his ordeal to GhanaWeb, disclosed that he lost over GH₵ 3000 and a phone after the robbers immobilized their vehicle by deflating its tyre.

“There were six armed robbers with pump action guns, they stopped us with a flashlight, they gave warning shots and shot our tyre so the driver had to stop, monies in our hands were all taken away

“We were made to get down and lie down so they went into the car, searched the whole vehicle looking for money then they came to search us, looking for money, I lost Ghc3,400 there…the women, they had to remove their pants and put their hands in their vagina to see whether there’s money and under the breast,” said the retiree, adding that victims were slapped and assaulted in the process.

"All passengers were also robbed of their mobile phones", he added.

He further explained that one of robbers suggested that they be killed with another disagreeing, insisting that they just carry out the robberies and leave.

He added that the gang varnished into a nearby mango farm after committing the act.

Some youth of Agomeda who got a wind of the nefarious activities and armed with guns reportedly mobilized themselves on motorbikes and stormed the location but the robbers had already left their victims to their fate.

Sipim Osakonor said, “About three minutes later, the youth from Agomeda, they mobilized and came on motorbikes, about eight of them with guns but already the robbers had left. they were going to kill them.”

Another victim, Narteh Richard who was travelling from Odumase to Accra on Monday night around 9:30 said the timely intervention of police personnel from the Somanya Police Command saved him and other passengers from running into the robbers who had allegedly mounted a road block at the same spot as Monday.

According to him, their vehicle stopped few hundred meters away from the robbery scene after being informed by another driver of the activities of the armed men ahead of them.

He furthered that not long after, police personnel from Somanya by-passed them towards the scene and only continued their journey after being informed that police had brought the situation under control.

An eyewitness said that the KIA truck reportedly used by the robbers to block parts of the road for their operations was still parked with policemen in control of the area.

Some residents of Agomeda and passengers are therefore appealing to the Ghana Police Service to ensure that maximum security is ensured at the enclave.

Efforts to get details and responses from the Somanya Distict Police Commander were unsuccessful as he was locked up in a meeting.

Several robberies have been reported in the same area within the last few years with this week’s incidents being the latest.