A man believed to be in his late thirties was lynched yesterday after he attempted to rob an MTNsales point at gunpoint. He was in the company of two others during the robbery operation but he was not lucky, as he was grabbed by an angry mob and subsequently beaten and set on fire. The robber, who gave his name as Romeo, claimed to be a resident of Kasoa Barrier in the Central Region and a Nigerian gang member who resides at Ashaiman Tulaku barrier, according to the deceased, gave information about the sales point.
A security man, sales personnel and a customer were held hostage by the robbers at the sales point, which had recently experienced two separate robberies, with the robbers taking away thousands of Ghana Cedis. The robbers demanded money and other valuables, while one waited in a blue-black Toyota Corolla saloon car in front of the sales point, after they had entered the place at about 8:30am under the pretext of transacting business.
Linda Asamoah, a sales attendant, was in the inner chamber of the sales point which had been divided into two with glass. This prevented the robbers from entering where the money was being kept. Linda made a quick phone call to a friend nearby who promptly raised the alarm which attracted the crowd. The driver of the get-away car, sensing danger, drove off, leaving his colleagues in the office block, upon hearing the alarm.
However, one of the robbers managed to jump on top of the bonnet of the vehicle and fled with the driver.While escaping, the driver fired shots, with a bullet hitting a glass door of another shop, Maranatha Photo and Barbering Salon, near the scene. Luck however eluded Romeo, who was not able to catch up quickly with the vehicle, as he was pursued by the mob after he took to his heels from the sales point until he was apprehended.
He was subjected to severe beatings with clubs, metals, golf bats and cement blocks among other implements before finally being set ablaze and left to burn in the middle of the street. Romeo, however, managed to roll over his body until the fire went out while bleeding profusely, mostly from his head. The incident attracted hundreds of persons who thronged the scene to either unleash their anger on the suspect or catch a glimpse of the deceased after he was killed.
Linda Asamoah, the sales girl, narrated to DAILY GUIDE: “I was at the office when one robber came that he wanted to receive mobile money transfer and I told him the network was down so he should go and return later.” According to her, another armed robber came to join his colleague, pulled out a pistol and quickly demanded money and other items. On his part, Romeo jumped over the counter after they had locked themselves in one of the glass apartments. She further narrated: “It was when he was trying to open the glass door to where we kept the money that I called a friend who shouted ‘thief, thief’ before the area boys came around.”
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Tetteh Yarkah confirmed the incident to DAILY GUIDE, and added that the police arrived to find the lifeless body of the suspected robber in a pool of blood. According to him, the corpse had been conveyed to the Police Hospital morgue in Accra for possible identification, further investigations and autopsy. He noted that upon preliminary investigations, the police retrieved a pistol and live ammunition in a bag which was abandoned on the street by the deceased while he was running away from the fuming mob. Ashaiman Newtown and its environs are under frequent siege by armed robbers, putting the area youth under constant alert.