Oyibi Residents Live in Fear After 16 Robberies in One Month

Residents of Oyibi and surrounding communities including Frafraha, Malejo, Greenfield Station and Apolonia in the Kpone-Katamanso District and Adentan Municipality, say they are living in fear due to an increase in robbery attacks.

As a result, reports suggest that some residents are gradually leaving the area with the excuse that they feel unsafe.

The Daily Graphic reported on Monday that as many as 16 robbery cases have been recorded in these areas in February 2018 alone, with two people being shot dead.

“In this month alone, 16 robberies have occurred in which two people were shot dead by the armed robbers, but the Oyibi-Frafraha District Police Command does not have a single assault rifle to fight the rising cases of armed robbery attacks,” the newspaper added.

Some of the residents spoke to Bernard Koku Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show today, Monday, and recounted their ordeals.

One of them, a lady who decided to remain anonymous, said she was attacked by four men around 7:00pm when she entered her House.

According to her, the robbers were dressed like construction workers and entered her compound immediately she entered with her car after returning from work.

The dirty slap

She said she received a slap from one of the robbers when she tried to prevent them from entering her house.

She said she managed to lock the door behind them, but because her car engine was still on, the robbers sped off with it.

“…they entered my car and sped off. This happened around 7:00pm, the earliest time I had gotten home in a long while. They were dressed like construction workers. The place is a developing area so you will think that they were just in those clothes and they were on their way home…they drove the car away, with the help of friends and family and police, we found the car 45 minutes later in Kwabenya. They had used the car for robbery in Kwabenya,” she added.

Thieves spent 45 minutes breaking into my house

Another resident who suffered a similar attack said the robbers spent close to 30 minutes attempting to break her burglarproof.

She said they were warned by the robbers not to make any call else they would have themselves to blame.

“…We opened the bedroom door for them to come in. When we opened it for them and surrendered, unfortunately, they beat my son and asked where the money was. I told them I don’t have any money and they said we should lie down. We were very calm because it was a life and death issue. They were all holding guns; they were four in number and had covered their faces with masks. They collected all our phones and everything they laid their hands on they took it.”

She said the robbers ransacked the room and took laptops and anything they laid hands on.

“And when they were done they bolted. It was a very terrible thing that night and up till now, I’ve not been myself. It is a very horrible thing for someone to experience,” she recounted.

The woman further noted that, they reported the case to the police few minutes after the incident, after which a patrol team was dispatched from the Accra regional police command.

“I haven’t heard anything about it since then,” she added.

About 15 robbers attacked me

Another resident who gave his name as Sam and lives around the Valley View University area said as many as 15 robbers attacked him.

“Mine happened on 4^th February [2018]. When the incident happened, the district police commander came to me and told me that they are having a serious problem with logistics to fight crime. Every day you will hear the news of somebody being attacked and shot.”

“When these robbers are coming they come numbering about 15 carrying all kinds of weapons. On that particular day, 8 people entered into my house, about three were standing on the fence wall and the rest were on the roads. So neighbours were very scared, they could not come out. They called the Oyibi district police; they were not having vehicles so they had to call the national patrol. They were in Adentan by then and they moved in. It was very scary,” he added.

Sam said the armed robbers  “took anything they laid their hands on: TVs, laptops, phones, monies they could find, broke into the cars and took whatever they could take; I’m still taking stock of a lot of things because I just returned from the hospital.”

“The police told me that the only vehicle that the district command has is broken down for a very long time, and they only had two riffles per my checks,” he added.

No pickups for patrols

The Oyibi Police District Commander, Superintendent Suzanna Adjei, confirmed the increased incidents of robberies in the area on the Citi Breakfast Show, but lamented that they don’t have even one pickup for patrols, as the one they had, had broken down.

Superintendent Adjei said several appeals to the national headquarters for such assistance has yielded no positive results.

“…There has been an increase in the robbery cases which as a police administration we are doing our best to curb that menace. We are having a lot of meetings with both the Kpone Katamanso Assembly and Adentan Municipal Assembly concerning these very issues. We are doing our best. Even if we don’t have vehicles we would have used foot patrols.”

“Currently, we don’t have even one vehicle. When I was posted here, they had a vehicle which had been parked for over one and half year. We wrote to the administration, I still do follow-ups, but I was told that they don’t have. I was asked to resort to the spoilt car and look for a mechanic to fix it,” she added.

The Police Commander said she has been engaging the community to support them with pickups to help them patrol the area.

“I started talking to the community for assistance. I have a little above 40 officers. Considering the trend of Ghanaian communities, at least two pickups will be better,” she noted on the Citi Breakfast Show.

Source: Citifmonline