Armed Robbers Seize Vehicle At Gunpoint

A group of armed robbers wielding an AK 47 assault rifle and pistols on Saturday seized at gunpoint a Toyota pickup belonging to the Resource Management Support Centre of the Forest Services Division and bolted.

The incident occurred at the Pankrono Estate in Kumasi at about 20:45 hours.

The robbery has been reported to the Police but no arrest has been made.

Mr Atta Owusu, Liaison Officer of the Centre, who narrated the incident to the Ghana News Agency, said the vehicle with registration number GR 1869 S has been officially assigned to Mr Kofi Affum-Baffoe of the Mensuration Team.

He said Mr Affum-Baffoe on that day used the vehicle to convey some officers of the Forest Services Division to Akwapim-Akropong to attend the funeral of an employee of the Centre.

The Liaison Officer said while driving home after putting down the other officers at their various places of residence, Mr Affum-Baffoe noticed that a taxicab was closely following him but he had no suspicion about the intention of the occupants.

He, therefore, drove straight to the yard of his compound, switched off the engine and was about to get down only to be confronted with repeated shouts of "Why did you cross us?".

Mr Affum-Baffoe turned only to see four well-armed men pointing their guns at him, held him hostage for about three minutes and ordered him to surrender the ignition keys.

All this while, the wife and the child, who were indoors, never knew what was happening within the compound.

He said afraid of his life, Mr Affum-Baffoe had no option but to obey the orders of the robbers. They jumped into the vehicle and started firing indiscriminately to scare away people in the neighbourhood.

It was after they had sped off that the people moved in to assist Mr Affum-Baffoe to make a report to the Police at Old Tafo while others rang the FM radio stations to inform them about the robbery.

A source at the Tafo Police station that sought anonymity confirmed the incident on telephone to the GNA and said efforts were being made to track down the robbers.