Some residents of Bolgatanga say armed robbers have worked out a new way of stealing from motorists.
The gangsters, according to residents, stand well-dressed by the roadside and, with pistols concealed under their clothes.
They then draw close to any motorcyclist as road users are being held at an intersection by the red traffic lights. Once they are close enough, they start a brief chat with the biker with audible greetings.
At that time, onlookers far and near would think that the spectacle (which is actually a highway raid) is a usual roadside gathering of old pals whose paths have crossed again.Then, they whisper a stern order to the victim to quietly hand over the bike to them and either remain calm at the spot until they leave with the automobile or get shot for any attempt to resist.
“Just recently, a woman was riding on the Bolgatanga-Navrongo Highway around 7:00pm and a man stopped her around the regional library junction as if they knew each other. One might even think the man wanted the woman to give him a ride.
“The woman stopped. He walked to her and whilst he was talking with her, the woman got down from the motorbike. The guy rode the bike away. It was after he had gone far out of reach the woman began to wail.
“She then narrated to a crowd that she had been robbed of her motorbike at gunpoint by a man who stopped her as though he needed assistance,” an eyewitness (name withheld) told Starr News on Tuesday.
It has also been reported that a raid was launched on a biker in a similar recently around an old steel bridge that links the Bolgatanga Municipality and the Bolgatanga East District.
The Bolgatanga Divisional Commander of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Dela K. Dzansi, advised the public in a Starr News interview.
“If you have other road users around you when you are under such an attack, you could raise alarm because he can’t fired you alone. Or you can jerk up your motorbike for the motorbike to fly out of your body and fall on the ground. That will confuse the person and you can raise alarm. We will be making the police mount checks at the various traffic lights. They will be parking there intermittently and be observing,”
