Ms Matilda Amissah Arthur, wife of the late former Vice President Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur, has narrated the horrifying experience of being robbed and nearly killed in her bedroom in the early hours of Tuesday, December 5, 2023.
In her testimony, the former second lady said that on that fateful night, she was woken up by a light on in her room and when she opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with a masked man holding a gun.
The intruder, dressed in black with only his eyes visible, ordered her not to move or he would shoot her.
“I thought I was dreaming, so I sat on my bed and rubbed my face to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, and then there he was,” she recalled.
The armed robbers demanded money and Mrs. Amisa Arthur complied, handing over $2,400 she had set aside for renovations to her mother’s house, 50 euros of her own money, and all the cedis she had on hand.
Unconvinced, the robber demanded her money and jewellery, and although she explained that she didn’t normally wear jewellery, she eventually remembered and handed over a gold watch, necklace and earrings.
“He got angry. He turned my room upside down and of course he couldn’t find any money or jewellery. He then said, ‘You’ve wasted my time and I’m going to kill you, but I have to call my boss’. At this point he had dragged me out of bed and was smashing my head on the ground,” she said.
“We spoke on the phone for a few minutes and he said, ‘My boss wants me to shoot you, but I’m not going to. I’m going to strangle you to death so that next time I come back I’ll have my money.’ And then he started strangling me.”
Mrs Amisa Arthur has recounted the horrifying moment a robber strangled her until she was nearly unconscious.
At one point, she recalled, she asked for water, but strangely, the robbers brought it but only gave her a sip before resuming their assault.
“At one point I was thirsty and I said, ‘I’m thirsty,’ and he actually stopped choking me and went to get some water from the fridge and opened it and put it in my mouth. Just as I started to drink it, he snapped the fridge shut and continued choking me,” she said.
Amisa Arthur said throughout the ordeal, she had prayed fervently for God’s mercy not only on her but also on the assailants.
“When you’re in the valley of the shadow of death and an armed robber has a gun to your head and is choking you and suffocating you, there’s nothing you can do. But I realized all I can do is pray to God — not just to help me, but to help God,” she said.
Eventually, the former Second Lady lost consciousness and experienced profound hallucinations.
According to her, she found herself walking through the most beautiful streets and gardens she had ever seen.
In this quiet place, she was packing flowers into a basket when she felt a hand on her wrist and heard a voice say, “It’s time to go.”
Miraculously, she survived the attack.
Meanwhile, the police have already arrested one person, Yahuza Osmanu, for his involvement in the incident and several other robberies around the airport, Cantonment, Tesano and Ridge in Accra.
Yahuza Osmanu has pleaded not guilty to 26 charges of robbery and money laundering.
The accused was refused bail and remains in custody.
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