A robbery victim in Tamale is lamenting how suspected robbers are left off the hook by the police immediately after they’ve been convicted of a crime.

Mohammed Hafiz said about two years ago, the police granted bail to a robber who had attacked him without spending time in jail.

The 34-year-old disclosed his experience to JoyNews’ Mohammed Nurudeen after the murder of Mfantseman MP and his driver on the Mankessin-Abeadze Abakrom road in the Central Region by robbers.

Mr Hafiz said memories of one of his scariest moments when the robbers had his at a gun point still linger on.

He is worried that such criminals are always being freed to continue to hunt and hurt innocent lives.

“It was like a movie to me. I even tried to laugh but the guy was like ‘what are you trying to say?’”

Mr Hafiz said the incident occurred at 10 pm on January 19, 2018, behind Radach Lodge at Lamashegu in Tamale in the Northern Region.

According to him, he was riding home from town when the two-armed men stopped him.

“I saw them walking on the rough road but I didn’t know they were robbers.”

Mr Hafiz said the gunman was very determined at the time and took his motorbike among others before ordering him to walk into a nearby bush.

"One of the men was armed with a gun and the other was holding a long machete. Both were threatening to either shoot or slash me with the machete if I disobeyed their orders," he recounted.

According to Mr Hafiz, the robbery only lasted a few minutes, but that moment has forever haunted him. He later informed friends about the incident and pleaded with them to be on the lookout.

“Anytime I reflect over the incident I feel so bad. How many people are fortunate to go through such incident and are still alive?” he quizzed.

Ten days after the incident, one of the armed robbers sent Mr Hafiz’s phones to phone technicians to unlock them. He claimed the brother had died and left the phones so they wanted to sell them to defray some debts.

Fortunately, Mr Hafiz had already informed the technicians about the robbery incident.

“When the technicians switched on the phone, he saw my photo and he quickly contacted my brother.”

The suspect was arrested. Mr Hafiz identified him as one of those who robbed him and he was put before the court, but his accomplices could not be traced.

After further investigations were conducted, the 34-year-old got his motorbike and his phones back. But the suspected who was on police records as a hardened criminal was granted bail.

According to Mr Hafiz, he could not have been in court every two weeks because of his work schedules in Wa in the Upper West Region.

Though it is essential for robbery victims to report crimes to police as soon as they can, Mr Hafiz is worried the outcome of such cases is always disappointing.

“This was someone who served a 12-year prison sentence and is a known criminal with police records to show for that. Nobody would be able to tell what he is into now.”

Mr Hafiz, however, advised the public not to struggle, argue or disagree with whatever order armed robbers issue should they find themselves in such a situation. He said it is always likely to end up in pain.

There are several reported cases of a robbery at gunpoint in some parts of Tamale, especially among motorbike riders.

A young man was reportedly shot dead in the early hours of Thursday at the Sagnarigu suburb of Tamale in the Northern Region.  

The deceased Mohammed Abdul-Kadir is a graduate of Tamale Technical University.

His elder brother, Mohammed Yussif said the brother died instantly after receiving gunshots in the stomach. Abdul-Kadir has since been buried at the Tamale cemetery.