Armed Men Raid Doctor's Bungalow

THE TEMA General Hospital bungalow of Dr. Benjamin Forkuoh, was for well over two hours, besieged by five young men armed to the teeth early Monday morning.

Their mission was to reap where they have not sowed -- rob them of valuables including money.

The aging doctor speaking to this reporter at his residence said on Monday, this week, at about 2:30 am, the masked men entered his compound.

They first went to the boys quarters, tied two persons, one Pastor Afriyie from Takoradi who came to lodge with them after a programme at Christ Image International and the doctor's brother-in-law, Horseh.

Armed with locally-made guns, the men who ranked themselves as Sergeant, Corporal and Popo took away ?8 million from Horseh, robbed the Pastor of an unspecified amount and his mobile phone.

At gun-point, the two were marched to the backdoor.

One of them wanted to do same to a deaf and dumb man adopted by the doctor, whose girl-friend from Ashaiman arrived at the quarters late but was restrained by "Sergeant."

The tyres of all three saloon cars in the compound were punctured with knives before finally using a block to force the back door open.

According to Dr. Forkuoh, two of the armed men walked straight into his bedroom but the wife was able to push them.

Angered, one fired at the left sole of Mrs. Forkuoh and retorted that they were after the husband.

The "Sergeant" ordered that they buried them in the mattresses packed in the room.

After ransacking all the rooms while the household, including the mother-in-law, was held at gun point, a shot was released through the ceiling of the bedroom creating a wide opening leaving several pellet marks.

The armed robbers disconnected the phone line and took possession of the doctor's mobile phone.

Speaking Hausa and Twi, they said that the doctor was getting proud and that his wife, a businesswoman, would suffer for that.

The family, made up of 12 except the deaf and dumb and his girl-friend who were left untouched at the boys quarters, were locked up in the bedrooms.

Apart from Pastor Afriyie's unspecified amount and jewelry taken, the gangsters took away physical cash of $4,600 and over ?10.6 million from the house.

Mrs. Forkuoh, a businesswomen is said to have returned from the United States, last week, on a business trip where she was given monies as remittance for some families.

As they sped off, the "detained" family gathered courage and forced the door open and rushed bleeding Mrs. Forkuoh to the hospital.

The police were called and in less than 5 minutes, three patrol cars arrived together with soldiers.

After a fruitless search for the gangsters, the highly charged security men left, but the last team spotted four men who pretended that they were urinating.

Upon stopping by, they took to their heels and when pursued, four big bags filled with African embroidened dresses taken from the doctor's house were left behind.

Also left behind was a tape recorder from the same house.

Police sources hinted that one person was arrested in connection with the robbery, but remained silent on the identity.