Armed robbers raid Bolga neighbourhoods

Armed men on Tuesday shot a watchman Mohammed Abdulai and attacked and robbed some residents at Yikene in the Bolgatanga Municipality.

The armed men numbering two, attacked the house at about 01:40 hours and shot the watchman in the leg, forcing him to open the door to the house.

The watchman said the robbers forced him to lead them to the main house where they took away mobile phones, lab tops, home theatre and undisclosed amount of cash from the victims.

Even though they did not physically hurt the tenants, most of whom worked with ADVANCE, a USAID funded project.

The watchman who bled profusely could not be found immediately after the incident as Police Patrol Team (PPT) swiftly responded and combed the vicinity for about two hours in vain.

Later, the watchman who was found and taken to the Regional Hospital for medical attention told the Ghana News Agency that he saw a sudden flashlight pointing to his face with the two men standing over him.

He said he stood up immediately but the robbers shot his left foot and forced him to lead them to the rooms in the house, adding that, he shouted for help but the robbers warned him to keep quite.

According to Abdulai he took advantage of the robber’s concentration on acquiring their booty to escape and sought refuge in a neighbour’s house.

He explained that the robbers had used a white Mapuka motorbike in their operation, and that, saw the bike behind the fence wall of the house while he tried to escape.

Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) personnel at the scene speculated that the robbers might have used an imported short gun, considering the shell found at the scene.

The Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Thomas Agbenyo, who accompanied the CID personnel to the scene, sympathized with the victims and assured them of the police readiness to investigate and bring the perpetrators to book.

Mr Agbenyo appealed to members of the public to make available any information that could lead to the arrest of the criminals.

Some of the victims told the GNA that offices of the ADVANCE project sometime ago was burgled and expressed suspicion that the robbers could be connected to the earlier criminal activity.