Armed robbers gun down driver

A far-reaching wave of terror has struck Bolgatanga, Upper East regional capital, following the gruesome killing of an assistant driver to an articulated truck by armed robbers Friday.

The vehicle was travelling to Burkina Faso on the Bolgatanga-Navrongo Highway when the prepared bandits appeared from nowhere around 3:00am, firing several bullets at the vehicle.

The main driver, who was shot even after he had without delay surrendered over GhC5,000 to the armed robbers, is battling for survival at the Upper East Regional Hospital. His assistant driver died on the spot behind the fence walls of the Bolgatanga High Court.

Spate of robbery in Bolga alarming

Just Thursday, armed robbers had attacked a businesswoman at Atulbabisi in the capital and robbed her of about Gh¢3,000.

There was another strike a few days ago around the Children's Park opposite the office block of the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly. The victim reportedly was going for an early Catholic mass when she came under a gun attack from thieves.

The latest development happened close to a boutique some armed robbers had attempted to rob in broad daylight a few weeks ago. Several residents who thronged the scene of the Friday’s horror described armed robbery violence in the capital as not only “alarming” in spate but also “increasingly more sophisticated” in ways and weapons.

“This robbery situation in Bolga is now alarming,” an angry-looking man snarled from a colossal crowd of shocked residents at the scene. “And these days, they just target you, follow you into your room, point a gun at you and fire you if you have nothing to give them. They shot my brother in the shoulder,” he added, almost in tears.

Assistant driver died defending his boss

A forestry officer, who said he was on duty around the area at the time of the attack, described how the assistant driver died.

“I was in the office. I just heard gun shots. Around six rounds. I was thinking police were operating. I came out. Some minutes later, one articulator passed. Then, two cars, too, passed. They (the victims) gave them five thousand [Ghana Cedis]. He (the assistant driver) was asking them why they shot the driver after giving them the money. They just turned at him. He was running away when they shot him. The articulator is carrying lumber. They (the victims) were resting here when the armed robbers came,” narrated the forestry officer (name withheld for security reasons).

Contrary to earlier assumptions that the victims were Burkinabe nationals, residents in Bolgatanga have established the identities of the victims as Ghanaians. The main driver is said to be a native of the Builsa North in the Upper East Region and the deceased a Gonja from the Northern Region.

Tense Friday in Bolga

Friday has been fated to come with a height of public alarm too much for some residents to bear.

This is because the horror that greeted the entire capital this morning coincides with the burial of a young man who was killed during the Sunday April 3 chieftaincy clash in the municipality. The military and the police have intensified their patrols amid fears of reprisal attacks from the feuding factions during the funeral.

The Bolgatanga Municipal Police Commander, Superintendent Samuel Punobyin, could not comment much on the latest robbery violence because he had been taken by duty to the burial ceremony of the clash victim who died in Kumasi a few weeks ago. He was shot and first taken to the regional hospital in Bolgatanga. He was later referred to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi.

The Commander told Starr News: “I am at Atulbabisi for the funeral of the man who died after the clash. I have not got the facts of this particular incident, so I’m unable to comment. But we are working around the clock. But you know something can happen at the blind side of the police. But we will keep on revising our notes.”

Residents clamour for intense security patrols

Residents, in the wake of the Friday’s frightening development, have intensified calls on government to step up security measures in the capital.

“The police visibility we see in Bolga is not enough. It is on today, it is off tomorrow. The patrols, too, are not that effective. What kind of society is this? See how they are disturbing us everywhere,” a resident, who gave his name as James Ayine at the scene, told Starr News as the crowd continued to swell.

The calls have come to merge with an existing proposal being pushed by United Cadres Front in the region to revisit the community watchdog model to help stem the tide of armed robbery in the region.

“We want you to appeal to the MDCEs to revisit the community watchdog concept. The police are doing well; but the number of the citizenry outweighs the number of the police. So, if we revisit that concept, the crime wave can be properly managed,” Mr. Noble Asakeya Alagskomah, Upper East Regional Chairman of the United Cadres Front, reiterated recently when civil society organisations working in the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) met with the Upper East Regional Minister, Albert Abongo.

At present, the latest horror is a crucial topic of discussions everywhere including offices, markets, schools and drinking spots among other crowded places in the region. The discussions will last until the clouds of despair disperse.

Lynching unabated in the capital

Police and the justice system have come under razor-sharp criticism in recent times from the public for reportedly not being hard enough on criminals.

Whilst many residents have openly alleged that some police officers are sharing bed and bread with robbery gangs, only a few people have commended some police officers for serving with integrity in the region.

The public standpoint is what has encouraged the lynching of crime suspects in the region. But the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Simon Yaw Afeku, also has been blaming the public for not patronising the police hotline by reporting criminal events through it and for largely shielding criminals.

“Sometimes, it’s very appalling. We continue putting out our hotlines. It’s reachable day and night throughout the seven days of the week. But the majority of people are yet to live up to this. We have been putting it out every time so that when you notice something going wrong, you call the information room and the information room would appropriately direct the call to which zonal patrols or which quick response team is supposed to react to those situations.

“It could have added to the reduction of crime where the criminal knows that the police would be able to get to the scene quickly. By and large, most people don’t take interest in the police until there is a problem,” the regional commander once remarked.

Residents, in reply some time ago, told Starr News the hotline had not been widely publicised for the intended public use.

“If it (hotline) is displayed everywhere in the major vantage places in towns and communities for us to see, many of would have it. It’s a public number. But right now, I don’t even know where and how to get it,” a resident, Jonathan Adanigna, complained.