Motorists cry over robbery attacks on Burma Camp bypass

Drivers and motorists who ply the Burma Camp bypass in Accra have been complaining about robbery attacks at night on that stretch of road from the El Wak roundabout leading to Spintex Road.

The drivers say this daunting incident has been going on since last week on that stretch of road.

In an interview with Berla Mundi on the New Day show on TV3, Wednesday, June 23, one of the users of that stretch of road who suffered an attack on his vehicle on Saturday night recounted his ordeal.

The driver (name withheld) said he was attacked by an unidentified robber with a stone thrown at him through the windscreen of his vehicle when he got to the footbridge that connects the air force base and the Burma Camp.

“On Saturday, I closed from work and I was going to Teshie so I decided to use the Burma Camp bypass. So when you go, there is a footbridge that connects the air force base and the Burma Camp so as soon as I was curving, I just heard a very loud noise and when I checked, apparently somebody threw a stone at me which eventually hit the windscreen. That was around 11:50pm to 12:00am”, he recounted his ordeal.

He said the robber was hiding behind the pillars at the footbridge at a vantage point to initiate his attack on coming vehicles. He said the streetlights were conspicuously not working which made the attacker invisible to road users on that stretch.

If it wasn’t for his windscreen that took the shock, he said, he would have been hit on his blind side that would have resulted in his vehicle crashing into a wall to make the attack successful.

He said when the stone hit his windscreen, he lost control a little bit but applied slight brakes to gain control before speeding off without stopping to check who it was that attacked him.

“So when it happened, I skewed off and with the little experience I have in driving I just had to apply a little brake and then sped off”, he said.

He said, he called the police on 191 that night to narrate what happened to him on that stretch to them and they assured him they will let their patrol team scout the area and also to report the case to the nearest police station.

He reported the case to the Labadi Police Station but was told the area was not under their jurisdiction so he had to go to Cantonment Police Station to report the matter. He said he went to the Cantonment Police Station and his statement was taken and they followed him to see where the alleged attack happened.

He said, he went back the following day to report the incident to the soldiers stationed at the Major Mahama monument who also confirmed that they have had a report by a Bolt driver who alleged of a similar attack on his vehicle the previous day.

All attempts by TV3 to reach one Supt. Gladys Mpare on the phone to hear the side of the police on the matter proved futile as there was no reception from her end.

By Barima Kwabena Yeboah|3news.com|Ghana