Cases of robbery on motorbikes spike in Accra
There is an increase in armed men using motorbikes for robbery in broad daylight in various parts of Accra.
On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 the police recorded three incidents which happened at 2 p.m, 4p.m and 7p.m.
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One of the victims, aged 34, lost his life while two others are responding to treatment at the 37 Military Hospital, Accra.
While one of the attacks was on a forex bureau at Osu, the two others were street robberies in which two individuals who were also riding motorbikes were attacked at the Afrikiko traffic light and the Pig Farm roundabout.
In one of the attacks, the robbers made away with GH¢32,000 while in the other two, they collected GH¢600 and an unspecified amount.
Shooting
The Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mrs Effia Tenge, confirmed the robberies to the Daily Graphic.
She said at about 2:05 p.m on June 9, 2021 the Ghana Police Service Headquarters Information Room received information that a man on a motorbike had been shot, close to the Total Filling station at the Pig Farm roundabout by two men who were also on motorbikes.
The victim, identified as Musah Abubakar, was taken to the 37 Military Hospital by some good Samaritans for treatment.
A team of police men led by the Kotobabi District Police Crime Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Joe Chikpa, went to the crime scene and later visited the victim at the 37 Military Hospital Emergency Ward where the victim had been taken.
However, they were informed the victim died two hours after he was admitted and the body had been deposited at the morgue of the same facility.
Registration numbers
An Apsonic 150 Motorbike with registration number M-20-GR 837 belonging to the deceased and two empty shells found at the scene have been retained for evidential purposes by the police.
In the second incident which happened at about two hours after the first, the victim was riding as a passenger on a motorbike from Tema Steel Works to the Stanbic Bank, Ridge branch.
On reaching the Afrikiko traffic light, he saw some unknown persons on two black Kawasaki motorbikes riding along and they ordered the victim's motorbike to stop when they got to the Ghana Immigration Service headquarters.
At that point, one of the two unknown men fired a warning shot and out of fear, the victim’s rider stopped.
The two unknown men collected the victim’s backpack containing an amount of GH¢32,000, his health insurance card, voter's identification card and National Identification card and bolted.
At about 7p.m on that fateful day, six armed men on motorbikes went to the Kafson's Bureau De Change, a Forex Bureau within Honey Suckle Pub and Restaurant, Osu, opposite the UNDP office.
Accountant
The men allegedly shot an accountant of the bureau on the left ankle and a cleaner in the left foot before fleeing the scene with GH¢600.
Investigators from the Anti-Armed Robbery Unit of the CID Headquarters went to the scene and have since initiated investigations into the incident.
Mrs Tenge said the police had put in place a number of measures to combat the increasing street robberies where the perpetrators use motorbikes.
She said the police had activated their investigative mechanism and were using the CCTVs installed at various points to monitor and trace suspected criminals.
Also, she said, the recent swoops on suspected criminal dens and impounding of unregistered motorbikes were all to minimise “such crimes”.