Correspondence from Eastern Region

Two fuel filling stations cited at Oborpah, a farming community located along the Odumase-Asesewa highway in the Eastern Region have remained shut following simultaneous robbery attacks on the two facilities.

The two facilities — Pacific Oil and Safety Petroleum filling stations have been converted into accommodation and commercial facilities in what appears to be a permanent close down over the robbery scare.

This portal discovered upon its recent visit to the two filling stations that the places had been rented out and converted into accommodation facilities being occupied by some families and a commercial facility serving as a shop for a tailor.

Three robbers attacked the Pacific Oil and Safety Petroleum filling stations in August 2021 and made away with about GHC21,000.

A driver’s mate who was passing the night under a parked truck at one of the filling stations was killed in the process.

A former employee of the Safety Petroleum filling station who has secured a new job elsewhere, Bless Dometey said though the filling station operated for a while after the incident, management of the place later directed its staff to stay home until further notice.

“We were at the filling station one day and they told us that we’re going to break for a while so if anything, they’ll give us a call so I’m also waiting,” said the former attendant who recalled the challenges he faced prior to landing the new job.

According to him, the robbery incidents left fears in the very being of the attendants.

Dadematse of Oborpah, Moses Tetteh Gbertey in an interview with GhanaWeb expressed regret at the situation, saying that the abandonment of operations by the stations was having adverse effects on the Oborpah community and its neighbours. “They’ve abandoned the facilities now, if we need fuel in this community, we must go all the way to Konorkle and this is very bad,” said the Dadematse.

According to him, okada operators in the community who provide a convenient means of transportation for the dwellers to access their farms have now been badly affected by the situation as they can now only access the product from other nearby filling stations.

Aside from the stress the community goes through to access fuel elsewhere, the community leader bemoaned the missed job opportunities that the two facilities offered his and surrounding communities.

Dadematse Moses Tetteh Gbertey therefore appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the entire police administration to ensure increased security on the country’s highways to avert robbery attacks and other criminal activities.

Efforts to get responses from the management of the facilities proved unsuccessful.

Robbery activities have seen an upsurge in recent times across the country.