Robbers Stab Apirede Chief

Nana Saforo Okuoampah III, chief of Apirede-Akuapem in the Okuapeman Traditional Area of the Eastern Region, on Thursday narrowly escaped death when a gang of five suspected armed robbers allegedly attacked him.

The chief, who doubles as the chairman in-charge of Logistics of the Funeral Planning Committee of the late Okuapemhene, sustained injuries when he was purportedly stabbed in his left thigh at Adukrom on the Accra highway near a cemetery when he was going to his official residence in Koforidua. The suspected armed robbers reportedly blocked the road with logs and descended on him.

Nana Okuoampah, speaking to DAILY GUIDE said, “I was going home and as I was descending the hill towards the Adukrom cemetery, I saw five men with a car parked behind and were holding flash torch lights. They asked me to stop and I did; they then opened my door and asked me to come   out of my car and lie on the ground, which I also did.”

The chief added that the robbers took away his two mobile phones, $200, GH¢500, a laptop and some documents which belong to the Funeral Committee, adding that the robbers then stabbed his left thigh.

Nana Saforo, narrating further, said he then managed to run through the cemetery and went to the Adukrom Police Station to report the matter, leaving his car behind. He said luckily, before he reached the station, the police had already got to the crime spot and drove his BMW car with registration number ER 1164 – 14 to the police station.

The Apirede chief said he suspected that the robbers attacked him because being in-charge of Logistics of the Okuapemhene Funeral Planning Committee, they (robbers) thought they could rob him of some documents and money.

The chief later went to the Adukrom Clinic for first aid and was given a medical form to seek further treatment at the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital at Mampong.

Some of the divisional chiefs of the Okuapeman Traditional Council, at the time of filing this report, had stormed the residence of the chief to console him.

Meanwhile, he Akropong Divisional Police Command has launched investigation into the matter.