Armed robbers have struck again in the Upper East region, killing an old man after brutalising his son’s wife for flashing a torchlight at their bare faces.

The latest attack, which took place at Goore in the Binduri District, comes only three days after a daytime bank raid had seen two men killed by four armed men at Pelungu in the Nabdam District.

At Pelungu, a ten-cedi note which one of the victims had brought out to buy a call-credit card before he was shot dead was still held in his hand as a terror-filled crowd viewed his lifeless body at a busy market that became empty at the ear-splitting sounds of gunfire from the unmasked thieves.

At Goore, the slain old man, Amobre Atubic, said to be 75 years, held a handful of rough sand in an agonising death. Some of the live shells, which the gang fired recklessly during the hideous attack, were not far from where his body lay.

An account given to Starr News by the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Binduri, Yakubu Abagre Ayinga, says the incident happened after some armed robbers had made an unsuccessful attempt last week to break into a kraal to rob a man and his wife of their cattle. There was a strange movement again at the same kraal around 2:00am Monday, which made the suspicious wife to tiptoe with an old torch to where the animals were confined.

Two men were in the dark, ushering the submissive cattle out of the enclosure. Their faces were brought to light immediately she turned on the torch. Extremely angry, the gun-bearing robbers abandoned the livestock, grabbed hold of her and began to beat her. Her husband raced to the scene as his wife cried out; but, realising they were armed robbers on reaching there, he drew back at once, jumped a wall and fled in disorderly haste for his life.

“The man’s stepfather, an old man, thought it was the man who was beating the woman when he heard the woman wailing,” said the DCE. “So, he came out from the next house to see what was happening. At that point, the armed robbers had left the woman because people from the area were massing up. As they were running away from the house, they met the old man on the way and just shot him dead.”

Police Account

The body of the old man was taken to a hospital for examination and released in no time for burial after doctors had done their check.

A police manhunt for the killers is underway. The Bawku District Police Commander, who oversees Binduri, said a distress call from the raided area hit their hotline at about 1:30am yesterday.

“The owners got wind of the armed robbers’ presence. The man had to pass the backdoor and raised an alarm. The wife, too, was warned to stop the noise. Realising that an alarm had been blown and people were coming, they started shooting sporadically on their motorbike.

“The father of the man who owns the cattle woke up from a house very close to the place. As they were shooting, one of the bullets had him in the right groin. He fell and died shortly after. They ended up not taking anything away from the house,” said Superintendent John Kusorgbor.

Form Watchdog Committees — Police urge Assemblies

Meanwhile, the DCE has hinted at arrangements to convene a District Security Council (DISEC) meeting soon in response to a recent string of armed robbery attacks in the area.

Not long ago, a man was gunned down at Nayoko, another community in the district, when he accidentally arrived at a spot where a resident was in the middle of a profuse plea on a robbery gang to take possession of all his belongings and spare his life.

In Superintendent Kusorgbor’s expert recommendation, residents anywhere can stay safe if they take cover when a gun blast is heard, and the assemblies can help stem a wave of robbery-related terror by forming and sustaining watchdog committees.

“When you sense a noise and it is robbery, don’t go in. Yours is to call the police. When you suspect somebody carrying arm, you don’t confront the person. Take cover and blow alarm to the police.

“The assemblies should form watchdog committees because the police cannot be everywhere. When they select the good and able ones that are willing to do the work, they should call me for me to come and educate them,” he advised.