A tragic armed robbery incident in the Ashanti Region has left one civilian dead and two robbery suspects lynched by an angry mob, with two others currently in police custody.
The incident occurred on the night of Sunday, June 16, 2025, around 8:30 pm along the Sarponso-Nsokote stretch, when a Kia truck returning to Obuasi after delivering provisions was ambushed by four armed men. The vehicle had six occupants, including the driver, who were attacked and robbed of a sum of GH₵120,000, representing daily sales collected from nearby communities.
The robbers fled into the bush after the attack. The victims raised an alarm, drawing residents of Sarponso to their aid. In the course of the community’s search for the attackers, Mr. Kwadwo Obeng, popularly known as Elder, spotted the robbers and shouted to alert others. Unfortunately, the armed men, sensing they had been found, opened fire and shot him. Mr. Obeng, aged 49, sustained multiple pellet wounds to his upper body, abdomen, and right hand. He was found lying in a pool of blood in a supine position when police arrived at the scene around 2:30 am on June 17, 2025.
The Fomena Police Patrol Team responded to a distress call placed by Seidu Zakaria, the Assembly Member for Sarponso, and quickly moved to Maameamakrom, where the fatal shooting had occurred.
Angered by the death of the respected community member, residents intensified their search for the robbers. By around 11:20 am, the four suspects were found hiding in the bush. In a swift act of mob justice, the suspects were assaulted and lynched by the crowd.
The police intervened and managed to rescue the suspects, rushing them to the Fomena Government Hospital. However, two of them, Kofi Adjei (23) and Yaw Agyemang Acquah (22), were pronounced dead on arrival. The remaining two, Richard Arhin (26) and Eric Osei (27), survived the mob attack and are currently in police custody as investigations continue.
The police have condemned the act of mob justice and have called for calm as they work to bring all accomplices of the crime to justice. They also urged the public to refrain from taking the law into their own hands and to report any suspicious individuals or activities to the nearest police station.
The body of the late Kwadwo Obeng has been deposited at the mortuary for autopsy, while the deceased suspects are also being processed for further legal procedures.