Gunmen block Chiana-Sandema road to rob traders

Correspondence from Upper East:

A robbery syndicate that has been terrorizing residents of Chiana and Sandema since last year has carried out another attack on residents.

The gunmen, four in number, on Friday night blocked a section of the road near Adua-song to the Chiana side and just before Kalijisa No.2 to the Sandema side, where they subjected travellers to beatings and robbed them of monies and other valuables.

Majority of the victims, according to details from some victims who spoke to GhanaWeb, were traders who had closed from business activities at the Chiana Market and were returning home on commercial tricycles and personal motorbikes.

The victims recounted that the masked men used wood and stones to create a barricade on the road section. They said the armed bandits then pounced on travellers who arrived at the spot, pointed guns to their heads and asked them to lie on their bellies, followed by instructions to give up every possession they had including mobile phones.

According to some of the victims, "the armed robbers who were about four used wood and stones to block a narrow portion of the road between Chiana and Sandema which is quite hidden. And whenever people got there, they [robbers] came out from the shrubs and point guns to their heads and forced them to lie down and surrender everything they had on them."

"They also searched some of the people themselves and took out valuables from their pockets."

"They took away a lot of money and mobile phones from the people especially the traders. The interesting thing is that today was Chiana Market day and traders were going home from the market after closing sales. So, you can imagine,” a resident told GhanaWeb’s Upper East Regional Correspondent, Senyalah Castro.

Our source said none of the victims sustained physical injuries. He, however, stated that a lot of the victims were left traumatized and wailing over their losses.

The incident has been reported to the Chiana Police Station.

Reported robbery incidents in the region

This is not the first time residents have been attacked on that road in recent times. During the yuletide, the same gang of thieves attacked traders and shot a livestock trader, inflicting life-threatening wounds on him.

The gang also attacked a filling station in the Chiana area, wounded a nursing mother and staff and made away with some money.

There were also several reported incidents of robbery attacks at the Sandema township which resulted in the shooting of a mobile money operator and loss of monies amounting to GH¢20,000.

The Sandema District wing of the Church of Pentecost was also attacked in November last year.

Reported cases of motorbike robberies have also been reported in Navrongo recently, where the latest incident happened on Thursday. The victim, a Nurse, was robbed of his brand-new motorcycle around midday.

There have been three separate reported incidents of robbery attacks on the Navrongo-Kologo–Naaga road where motorbikes were taken from the victims.

In the regional capital, Bolgatanga, the situation is not different as six armed men last week Thursday reportedly attacked and robbed a prayer centre at Soe-Akupeliga.

The robbers attacked The River of Life International Global Prayer Centre in broad daylight as church leadership led the congregation in prayers. They took away monies, phones and motorcycles belonging to congregants.

Earlier, before the horrifying attack on the church, a robbery incident was reported at Pusu-Namogo near Tongo where robbers attacked traders from Kumasi going to buy tomatoes from neighbouring Burkina Faso.

That incident cost the life of one of the truck drivers who was shot in the abdomen by the robbers. Cash amounts totalling GH¢10,000 and CFA 2,750 were stolen.

The incident angered drivers who poured on the streets to register their displeasure of robbery activities on the roads. They embarked on a strike which has taken the assurance of the Inspector General of Police for the drivers to rescind their decision.

The incessant activities of these gunmen in the region have left the people living in fear for their lives and properties.

Residents want the police to intensify patrols especially during night hours and increase presence and checkpoint on the roads.