Armed Robber Rob & Rape Hiplife Artist

Mzbel, a popular Hiplife artiste was robbed and sexually assaulted by a gang of three armed robbers at her New Gbawe residence in Accra in the early hours of yesterday.

One of her two friends who were with her at the time of the incident, was also sexually assaulted by the robbers who wielded pistols, knives and clubs.

The robbers took away 900 dollars, 500 pounds and 800,000 cedis, two DVD players, a CD and cassette player, a digital video camera, an Ephson Laptop, jewellery, clothes and five mobile phones from the victims.

The attackers entered the rented apartment of Mzbel after breaking the main door with blocks.

Narrating her ordeal to newsmen yesterday, a traumatized Mzbel said she was awakened by a knock on her back at around 1.00 am.

She said she saw a masked man with a pistol standing above her.

The man demanded to know where she was keeping her dollars, but she told him she did not have any dollars.

At that point, she said the intruder gave her a slap which sent her reeling and bundled her into another room where she found the other victims locked up.

“They locked us up and left for sometime apparently to search the house, we heard them opening drawers and wardrobes”.

She said after a while, one of the robbers came foe her and asked her to show him where the dollars were.

Mzbel, who spoke amidst tears, said the mask men started beating her when she insisted she did not have any dollars.

Asked whether she was sexually assaulted, an evasive Mzbel said, “they did so many bad things to us in the house”.

She said she did not have reason to suspect anyone for the attack but said, “I do not trust anyone.” She however said her step brother was mentioned by one of the attackers as masterminding the attack.

Mzbel, had to call off am appointment to shoot a documentary by a crew from MTV in London who had come to Ghana, due to the incident.

On why she did not have personal security, she said she was not comfortable with body guards always around her, especially when she is on her private rounds in town.

She however employed a security man for the house when she rented it about one and a half years ago, but to relieve of his duty when she felt the area was not under any security threat.

Mzbel who rented from a United Nations concert in Liberia on Sunday said the incident is likely to put an end to her showbiz career.

She thinks that things were getting bad for her in the business, especially following the Kumasi incident where some students of the KNUST molested her after a performance.

“I do not want any problem. I am only in this entertainment business as an artiste who wants to share her talent,” she said.

I wish I had not started recording it at all,” she said.

The other victims, Bernice Daade, 19 and Rosie Niva, 20, said they could readily recognized the robbers because they removed their marks at the latter stage of the attack.

Mzbel said after the incident, they informed the Odorkor Police who gave them medical forms to seek medical attention at the Trust Hospital, Osu, but after initial examination they were reffered to the Korle- Bu Teaching Hospital for further checks.

Mzbel’s manager, Isaac Abeidu Aidoo, Chief Executive of Goodies Music Production, described the incident as very unfortunate”.

That, he explained, was because Mzbel was mid way through her third album, undertaking other musical projects as well as planning for her impending wedding.

Some time last year, Mzbel was similarly assaulted by some students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology while performing on stage at a faculty week celebration on the university campus.

She subsequently filed a suit against three KNUST students for sexual assault.