A 40-year-old cold store operator was robbed at gunpoint by some unknown assailants at Asafo in Kumasi on Wednesday, September 7.
The victim, Stephen Nyame, was accosted by the gunmen at about 2:30 pm, shortly after he returned from the bank.
He was reportedly making payment at a nearby cold store when the armed men on motorbikes arrived at the scene and demanded he hands over the cash to them.
In an attempt to subdue him, one of the robbers shot but missed him narrowly and the second shot grazed his stomach.
The bag fell, they picked it and bolted amidst the firing of gunshots.
The victim, who sustained an injury in the stomach, has since been treated and discharged from the hospital.
The victim was rushed to a nearby health facility and has since been treated and discharged.
Assembly Member for the Asafo Electoral area, Ernest Okai, urged the police to increase surveillance in the area to reduce robbery incidents.
He also advised traders within the area to be vigilant during their transactions.
There appears to be a surge in reported cases of armed robbery across the country, resulting in increased police visibility across the various communities.
Robbery cases on the rise
From January to the end of October 2019, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) early warning system records captured 80 armed robbery cases in Ghana.
Fast forward to 9 June 2021, a man was shot in the stomach in a daylight robbery by two armed men at Pig Farm.
He was pronounced dead 24 hours after being treated at the 37 Military Hospital.
That same day, two armed men also broke into a forex bureau near Honeysuckle in Osu and made away with an undisclosed amount of money.
The culprits in these two incidents are currently at large.
On 11 June, 2021, an unidentified man in an attempted robbery, attacked the driver of a Nissan Pathfinder with registration number GE-8088-11 on the GIMPA- Fiesta Royale road.
He threw a big stone at the vehicle, smashing its glass door, and tried to escape into a nearby bush. But he was arrested by the police after the victim drew the police’s attention.
On 14 June, three armed robbers on a motorcycle trailed a Mon-Tran bullion van and robbed occupants of the cash in the van –two were left dead at Adedenkpo in Jamestown.
Sometime in December 2021, two persons were arrested for the East Legon robbery that occurred on Sunday, 5 December.
Samuel Agyei and Sumaila Mahama are currently in police custody for further investigations pending court processes.
The suspects were arrested following a distress call received by the patrol team that some unknown men had invaded a neighbourhood at CPL Estate, East Legon Hills.
An initial search led to the retrieval of a 75-inch curved television set, an iPhone 12 pro max, one Techno smartphone, and a revolver pistol with four rounds of ammunition.
The team also found a KIA Morning Saloon car which the suspects had parked at the roadside.
In June 2022, two persons attacked and robbed an elderly woman of her phones and an undisclosed amount of money at Dansoman in broad daylight.
The suspects, Mawuli Amegbo and Sulley Mohammed, reportedly attacked the victim with machetes on June 13.
However, luck eluded the robbers when the victim saw them riding the bike and raised alarm, leading to their arrest by a nearby patrol team.