Crime & Punishment of Tuesday, 11 August 2020

Source: ghanaiantimes.com.gh

Armed robbers on rampage, shoot 2 passengers at Ahenkro

The driver's refusal to stop infuriated the robbers to shoot at the bus The driver's refusal to stop infuriated the robbers to shoot at the bus

Two people have been shot and one is in critical condition at the Offinso Government Hospital, following a robbery attack on a bus they were traveling on from Techiman to Kumasi.

The incident occurred at Ahenkro, near Offinso, in the Ashanti Region, at about 12:55am yesterday.

Five suspected robbers, wielding AK47 assault rifles, were said to have attacked the Sanyong bus with 14 passengers on board.

One of the two victims was shot in the stomach and the other in the leg, and the two are receiving treatment at the Offinso Government Hospital.

Speaking to the Ghanaian Times in a mobile phone conversation, the driver of the vehicle with registration number, AS 4904-17, Abdul Kwaku Razak, said that the incident occurred around 12:55am on Sunday at Aminu Nkwanta, near Techiman Dadieso.

He indicated that two of the robbers stood at the right side of the road, two others also stood at the left, with one standing in the middle of the road, all trying to stop the bus, amid gunshots

“In spite of the indiscriminate warning shots, “I refused to stop the vehicle and increased the acceleration, which forced the one in the middle of the road to jump into the nearby bush,” he narrated.

He said the robbers continued to fire at the vehicle and “a passenger sitting behind my seat was hit by a bullet in the stomach and another person in the leg”.

The driver said he sped off straight to the Offinso Ahenkro Police Station and made a formal complaint about the incident.

According to Razak, he was warned by a colleague driver about the presence of robbers at the area, but he was later given assurance by the police at checkpoints ahead that the road was safe and so he could continue the journey.

The Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the Ashanti Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Godwin Ahianyo, when contacted by the Ghanaian Times, said the police were yet to investigate the incident.