MP robbed at gunpoint

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Nkwanta South, Hon. Gershon Kofi Bediako Gbediame must be a very lucky person to have survived a series of misfortunes since November last year.

A stanch Christian, Hon. Gbediame is quick to give gratitude to his maker for saving him and his family from all those mishaps.

When, for two days running – November 11 and 12, 2013, his Toyota Camry was run into by two vehicles in separate accident’s, little did he know that it was a recipe for a more disastrous moment ahead as another disaster struck Hon. Gbediame last Saturday January 11, 2014, when armed men robbed him a gun point.

In the process, he lost several millions of cedis and other valuables, including his wife’s wedding ring.

Narrating his ordeal to The New Independent, Hon. Gbediame stated that around 2:30 am that fateful day, he lay awake in bed when he heard gun shots outside.

He said he thought someone was shooting outside. However, before he could say “Jack” he heard the gun shots right in his compound, and it happened that, his assailants, the armed-robbers, had scaled his wired wall and apparently jumped into the compound shooting indiscriminately thereby creating a scary situation.

He told this reporter that, the next moment, his assailants had attacked him in his master bedroom, pointing a gun at his forehead, ordering him to lie down prostrate on the floor.

This was after they had forced the kitchen door and the one to the master bedroom open with a big sledged hammer.

According to the terrified MP while one of the bandits held his gun pointed at him, two others held his wife to ransom and demanded money and jewelry from her.

He said, the wife had gone for some money from the bank the previous day for a project the next day. So she hurriedly handed it over into the waiting hands of one of the bandits, who did not only snatch it, but also hurriedly pocketed it.

The “Captive MP” said, form there, they moved to a second room, where his daughter, who had visited him from the United Kingdom on completion of her Masters degree programme, and demanded dollars from her.

However, her mother intervened, telling them that, it was all the money in the house that she had handed over to them.

He said, it was at this juncture that, the rest got wind that, money had been given to one of them, and so they started arguing amongst themselves over who had that money in his possession.

Hon. Gbediame said, the bandits moved to a third room where his sons sleep, ransacked the place and made away with everything valuable they chanced upon-money, phones, IPads, laptops etc.

He told this paper that, as if that was not enough, they kept demanding more, with one of them threatening to kill him.

At this juncture, the captured MP said, his wife intervened once more, pleading with them not to harm her husband, saying that, the only valued items left in the house was milk. So if they needed it, she would add it to them.

The MP, who is the immediate past Majority Chief Whip, said, after they had left, they laid hands on a small rejected phone, and called the Sakumono Police, who in turn called the Patrol team, which came to their aid, took them to the Sakumono Police Station to write take their statements.

According to him, the gory operation took place between 15 and 20 minutes.

He told this reporter that, whereas three of the bandits kept ransacking the place (rooms) one of them, wielding a gun stood in front of the house, keeping guard and vigilance.

Hon. Gbediame stated that, he was very grateful to God for saving their lives from these bandits. He further thanked God that, his sons were not in at the time of the attack because they had gone for an all-night prayer session.

He was afraid that, if they had been around, the story would have been different since they could have resisted the attack, and that could have led to a different story altogether. He indicated that, last Sunday, he dressed in white to Church to thank God for his life and that of his family.

On November 11 and 12 last year, his Toyota Camry was run into by two cars on different occasions – one at Parliament House, and the other on the Spintex Road.

Meanwhile, a source from the police has indicated that, investigations into the burglary are on-going.