Robbery attacks at Wonoo-Kumawu in Ashanti

The people residing in the Wonoo-Kumawu area in the Sekyere Kumawu District of Ashanti, have been wrapped in fear and panic following an armed robbery attack on a highway at the outskirts of Wonoo on the Kumawu stretch in the District last Friday night.

The District Police Commander Superintendent Opoku Agyemang Prempeh, said no arrest has been made so far and has assured the residents of maximum police protection to allay their fears, as they hunt for the miscreants.

The robbery attack, said to be the first of its kind in the area and suspected to have been perpetrated by the armed gang residing in Wonoo led to four people sustaining gunshot wounds in their head and other parts of the body, when the alleged robbers barricaded the road and held three on-coming vehicles hostage.

The robbers robbed all the 20 passengers on board the vehicles of their phones, cash and other valuables running into several hundreds of cedis.

Three of the four wounded victims have bullets buried in their bodies and are receiving treatment at the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital at Agogo in the Asante Akim North District, where they were rushed to and admitted, after they had been rescued.

The District Police Commander who confirmed the incident to the Ghana News Agency when he accompanied Mr. Samuel Addai Agyekum, the District Chief Executive (DCE), to pay a visit to the victims at the Hospital.

He said his office received a call on the situation around 2010 hours and his patrol team quickly rushed to the scene to rescue the victims.

The Patrol team also provided escort to vehicles plying the road from Akotosu to Kumawu, as they had been gripped with fear to travel on the stretch when they heard about the incident.

Mr. Kojo Acheampong, one of the victims, narrating the incidence to the Ghana News Agency at his bedside when the DCE and his team paid a visit to the Hospital, said they were shot and wounded when the armed men fired through the vehicle which was carrying them.

He said the shooting happened when their driver on seeing the attack, attempted to reverse and to drive away from the barricade.

‘‘All I heard was a gun shot and crushing side windscreen, the pieces of broken glass splashed unto my face, head, neck and entire body. I could not see anything again until I woke up in a hospital bed.

I thank God for the timely intervention of the Police that came to our rescue in about fifteen minutes later.’’, he said.

The DCE for his part encouraged and advised the victims to get over the shock and the trauma they were going through.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Philip I. K. Asante, the Divisional Commander of the Sekyere East District confirmed that the incidence was the first at that spot.

He urged passengers to always yield to the demands of armed persons during robbery attacks, in order to save their lives which were of more value than their property.

ACP Asante also urged the public not carry huge amounts of money on them when travelling and said they could take advantage of the mobile money services, adding that carrying huge monies in transit always attracts robbers.