Prison officer shot dead by highway robbers over GH¢340

Robbers strike on Bonsu-Brimso-Apedwa stretch

Angry robbers shot prison officer in the left eye

Police mount special operation to arrest robbery gang

An officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, Chief Officer Francis Dzaka Mawunyo, has been shot dead by a gang of three highway robbers on the Asiakwa-Apedwa stretch on the Kumasi-Accra Highway.

The deceased officer, according to a report by Myjoyonline, was shot in the face at close range after he refused to hand over his bag said to be containing an amount of GHC¢340 to the robbers.

His refusal to hand over the bag on the command of the robbers angered a member of the gang said to have been wielding a pump-action gun.

The angry robber shot him in the left eye, killing him instantly.

The Kibi Divisional Police confirmed the incident noting that it responded to a distress call from the scene to the Information Room of the Eastern Regional Police Headquarters at Koforidua.

According to a police situational report, the gang stopped and robbed about 20 vehicles on the stretch at about 2:30 am on Thursday at a spot between Brimso and Enyinasi.

“On the spot investigations disclosed that three armed men suspected to be of Fulani extraction stopped the vehicles and robbed the passengers of their properties, including cash and mobile phones,” it added.

The deceased was said to be onboard a 46-seater Hyundai bus with registration number AP 260-22 and was travelling from Kumasi to Accra direction of the road when the bus was stopped by the robbers.

“It was further disclosed that the robbers demanded that the deceased surrenders his bag, but he resisted; as a result, one of the robbers armed with pump-action gun fired at him at close range by the left eye, killing him instantly.

“The robbers subsequently collected the bag of the deceased,” it said.

A search on the body of the deceased is said to have led to the discovery of an amount of GH¢340 and a Prison Service ID card with his name Dzaka Francis Mawunyo on it.

The deceased officer, until his death, was stationed at the Kumasi Central Prisons and was a few months away from his retirement in June this year.

Chief Officer Francis Dzaka Mawunyo left behind a wife and three children.

His body has since been deposited at the Kibi government hospital morgue pending autopsy.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has announced a special operation to apprehend the suspects.