An unidentified driver’s mate who was passing the night with his master at a filling station at Oborpah in the Eastern Region has been killed in an armed robbery attack on one of two filling stations in the area.
Three robbers attacked the Pacific Oil and Safety Petroleum filling stations with the latter located about 150 meters from a 24-hour Police Check Point.
The robbers reportedly made away with a total of GHC 21,000 from the two filling stations located about 300 meters apart at Oborpah on the Odumase-Asesewa highway in the early hours of Thursday.
No arrests have yet been made in connection with the attacks.
A Police source who pleaded anonymity told GhanaWeb that the robbers first struck at the Safety Petroleum filling station and demanded to know who the manager was before robbing him of an amount of GHC16,040 being sales of the previous day.
“They went to the first filling station. They didn’t fire but were asking of the manager; ‘where’s the manager, where’s the manager?’ The manager heard it and the moment he stepped out, they accosted him and asked, ‘Where is the key?’ They were holding three pistols which they pointed at him. After giving the key to them, he [manager] ran away,” the source disclosed.
It’s however unclear how the driver’s mate who was reportedly sleeping under the tipper truck they were travelling in died as he was found tied by both legs, hands, and mouth.
The source said, “They tied the mate down and he was found dead but nobody knows exactly what transpired that led to his death.”
The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Atua Government Hospital morgue awaiting an autopsy to further help in investigations.
In the second incident, GhanaWeb picked up that Mensah Samuel, a 23-year-old Supervisor of the Pacific Oil Filling Station, was awoken together with other attendants of the filling station, by the three armed masked men who knocked repeatedly on the door of the facility.
The men demanded for money, and the supervisor fearing for his life acceded to their request where an amount of GHC4,886.00 and three cellphones were taken from the victims after which they fled into the bush.
Police upon receipt of the information, proceeded to the scene of the crime with a crime scene team from the Regional CID Headquarters in Koforidua to conduct some examinations.
Residents are however questioning how the robberies were successfully executed by the men with a 24/7 police barrier located just about Ghc 150meters from one of the Safety Petroleum Filling Station.
Meanwhile, Police have reportedly begun investigations into the attack to bring the perpetrators to book.
Meanwhile, Dadematse of Oborpah, Dadematse Tetteh Agbertey Moses said the incidents have put fear in the people.
“Yes, there is fear because we are not safe. For the robbers to be able to rob two filling stations in the community in one night, it’s very difficult.
“Even when you are in your room, you’re afraid someone will come and attack you,” he said.
Similarity with Asenema incident
It would be recalled that three armed robbers Saturday night attacked the Frimps fuel filling station at Asenema in neighbouring Okere District in a similar fashion, robbing it of an amount of ¢1,200 and mobile phones.
Similar to the latest incident, the three men reportedly fled into the bush after the act.
In both instances, three robbers were involved, they did not go with a vehicle, they targeted highway fuel stations, and fled into the bush after the act.
There are suspicions that the same robbers were involved in the three instances and could be a gang targeting highway fuel stations in the region.
One of the filling stations that was attacked