A gang of robbers, armed with guns and razor-sharp machetes, opened fire when they stormed the Roman Ridge residence of former Greater Accra Regional Minister, Sheikh I. C. Quaye, yesterday at dawn. There was no casualty, no property taken and no arrests have been made yet. Police is investigating the motive of the attack and the brains behind the operation.

The armed robbers, about eight in number, were reported to have masked their faces with black hoods and used two vehicles which had no registration numbers. They reportedly ransacked two houses in the Roman Ridge neighborhood before storming I. C. Quaye’s residence where they demanded that the gate be opened for them to enter else they tear it down with force. Sheikh I. C. Quaye is the second politician from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to have been attacked by armed robbers in recent times.

A constituency executive of the NPP was recently shot dead before the eyes of his wife and children when armed robbers attacked his home at Dome, a suburb of Accra. Daily Guide gathered that there were a number of heavily-built young men sleeping at I. C. Quaye’s house when the incident occurred; and sensing danger, they woke the ‘old man’ up from bed and rushed him into an inner room where they took positions, ready to defend the patriarch politician even at the peril of their lives.

As this drama was ongoing, the robbers continued firing outside the house, demanding that the gate be opened as they attempted to tear it down to force their way in. I.C. Quaye, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Ayawaso East, then telephoned the Police Patrol team and reported the attack. “They responded very swiftly and rapidly and saved the situation. Many police men rushed to the area and the robbers had to run and that was it, ‘agbenaa’,” I.C. Quaye told Daily Guide.

He debunked suggestions that the robbers might have been attracted to his house because of his perceived wealth.“I live in an uncompleted house and I am a down-trodden man so where is the wealth you are talking about? They know why they came and what they wanted but I know my life, family, friends and property are in the hands of Allah, the most merciful and that is what keeps me going,” I. C. Quaye added.

Interestingly, the attack at I.C. Quaye’s residence happened a day after former President Jerry Rawlings had accused the opposition of being behind the robberies so as to create disaffection for the incumbent government. Rawlings, during an interaction with leading members of his party last Wednesday, noted: “They are at it again. You don’t need to be a mathematician to tell who is doing this. This time, they have even extended it to foreign nationals who have invested in the country and when they kill, they disembowel their victims and supposedly take body parts to paint a picture of ritual murders.”