Tens of commuters traveling on the Nwineso-Trabuom-Foase road in Ashanti were robbed at gunpoint on Friday morning by suspected robbers wielding AK-47 assault rifles.

The robbers, numbering about six, attacked at least 10 vehicles transporting mostly traders to Kumasi at about 5 a.m.

An eyewitness, (name withheld) , told Nhyira FM the robbers barricaded the road at a spot on the Nwineso Number 1-Trabuom section of the road. 

They then took turns to rob commuters of unspecified amounts of money, mobile phones, wedding rings, among other valuable items, as they forced victims to lie face down.

“Our driver first saw a flashlight from the robbers but mistook it for an oncoming vehicle. He drove past a man who appeared to be attending to nature’s call. We then ran into a group of six young men wielding these assault rifles used by police and the military. Then, they rushed to our vehicle and demanded we hand over everything in our possession to them. One of them slapped me before he demanded I hand over my money. I trembled.”

“The robbers will then rush to attack passengers anytime a vehicle gets to the barricade. An old woman complained bitterly to the robbers about her aching feet, but they wouldn’t budge. They assaulted her despite her appeals,” she said in Twi.

Read also: Watch how driver foiled robbery attack on Accra-Kumasi highway

According to the eyewitness, the robbers manhandled and stripped some of their victims naked while physically assaulting some of the male victims in the process. Among those injured is a driver.

“Another woman in her 30s was forced to strip naked in front of the robbers. They insisted she had hidden some of her money in her private parts. Even if they were to find 50 pesewas in your possession after the first search, they had threatened to shoot you. We have been left traumatised.”

The Nwineso-Trabuom-Foase road has in recent times, become a safe-haven for robbers. A commuter was recently killed by a group of armed robbers who mounted barricades on the road.

Though the police patrol team is stationed on that robbery-prone stretch, the incident is said to have occurred in the absence of the police.

Victims of Friday’s robbery incident are raising concerns over the absence of the police currently.