Scores of passengers were stranded at the Atebubu lorry station in the Bono East Region in the early hours of Monday, as commercial drivers in the area refused to travel.
The decision of the drivers, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) gathered, was to register their displeasure about the recurring cases of armed robbery in the area, particularly on the Atebubu-Kumasi highway.
The aggrieved drivers at the weekend, stormed the Atebubu police station, caused extensive damages to the building, and burnt car tyres, in response to the killing of one of their colleagues by some group of armed robbers.
They said armed robbery had become rampant on the highway and they required the police to do more to bring the situation under control.
Information gathered by the Ghana News Agency from some of the drivers during its visit to the lorry station and indicated that they had resolved that until the police tackled the robbery cases, they were not in any position to journey.
“Some of us have been here since 0500 hours traveling to Kumasi, but it’s unfortunate that the drivers had refused to pick us up,” one of the stranded passengers, Mr Kennedy Owusu Junior, a Tutor at the Atebubu College of Education stated.
Mr Adam Sumailia, another passenger, called on the police to beef up security on the various highways in the area, saying “the armed robbery attacks are becoming alarming, and the police must act fast”.
“We are even afraid and troubled whenever we want to travel to from Atebubu to Kumasi. We are therefore pleading for government intervention because the armed robbery is becoming too much,” Madam Patricia Unibongnan, another passenger indicated.
Meanwhile, Nana Kwabena Kyere, the Adontihene (sub-chief) of the Atebubu Traditional Area had since condemned the action of the commercial drivers for besieging the police station.
Describing the incident as unfortunate, he called for collaboration between the drivers and the police as well as stakeholders to address the armed robbery attacks.
In an interview with the media at Atebubu, the sub-chief, however, appealed to the drivers to rescind their decision and resume work, assuring that the Atebubu Traditional Council would ensure that the armed robbery cases were brought under control.
“We have already met with the police and other security services who are putting up measures to stem the robbery attacks,” he stated.
From Eric Yaw Boakye, Atebubu
GNA
