Armed Robbers Strike In Aflao

A 75-year-old watchman at the Quantum Gas Filling Station at Avoeme, a suburb of Aflao in the Ketu South district of the Volta Region, has been killed by two armed robbers who raided the station last week Tuesday at about 11:20pm. This brings to two, the number of watchmen killed within the week. Suspect robbers killed a 70-year-old watchman, Mahamadu Abdulai, at a Cocoa Produce Buying depot in Asasetre in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region a day after the Aflao incident. The robbers made away with 61 maxi-bags of cocoa beans. The Aflao watchman, who was identified as Anthony Amesimenu Lumor, fondly called Santana, is believed to have been the only person between the robbers and the filling station. He was shot in the right knee. Santana was therefore left helpless as he bled profusely until he was later conveyed to the Ketu South District Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival. According to the proprietor of the filling station, Ralph Bedi, the two robbers succeeded in making away with a total of GH�12,872 which was the day�s sales. Mr. Bedi explained that the Quantum Gas Filling Station, in the face of gas shortage, was the only station in Aflao that had gas. As a result, the station sold gas to its customers till as late as 11:20pm when the last customer was served. He told Daily Guide that the armed robbers struck immediately the station operators served the last customer, after which they went into the office to check the day�s sales. He added that a few minutes later, the station manager and his assistants heard a gunshot from outside the office building and later a bang on the door, apparently from one of the robbers who ordered them to open the door, but they did not comply. That gunshot is believed to have been the one that hit the right knee of the watchman. The robbers then broke the louvre blades of the office and pointed their gun at the station operators who were four in number and threatened to shoot them if they didn�t open the door. For fear of their lives, the four opened the door for the robber who hurriedly collected all the available cash at gun-point and immediately fled with his colleague who had apparently fired a second gunshot while the former collected the cash. It was after the robbery that the station manager and his three assistants, who had been traumatized by the robbery, saw the helpless and wounded Santana in a pool of blood. The Ketu South Police Commander, Supt. Issah Yakubu who confirmed the incident to Daily Guide, noted that three workers of the filling station have been picked up to assist the police in their investigations. �Two empty cartridges fired at the filling station have also been retrieved from the robbery scene by the police while the deceased has been deposited at the Ketu District Hospital mortuary awaiting autopsy,� he added. Supt. Yakubu disclosed that their investigations have given them some leads about the suspects.According to him, one of them is a wanted criminal. He added that the Ketu South District Police Command was liaising with their Togolese counterparts to apprehend the suspects.