8 Suspected gangsters arrested in Accra

Source: Daily Graphic Online  -  Eight persons suspected of engaging in robberies in first class residential areas were arrested yesterday in a special operation to stop the activities of criminals in Accra.

Two others believed to have bought stolen items from the suspected robbers have also been arrested.

The 10 persons were arrested following reports of series of robberies in areas such as East Legon, Atraco, Adenta, Madina and Ashale Botwe, all in Accra.

The suspects, aged between 18 and 35, included an ex-convict, a Togolese and a Malian.

The police gave the names of the suspects as, Michael McCarthy, alias TT, 21; Richmond Kojo Sarpong, a driver’s mate and ex-convict, 24; and Bright Akamenko, alias Rasta, a conductor, 24.

The others are Sadiq Mubarak, a 20-year-old Togolese; Ibrahim Alhassan Abdulai, a Malian and an auto-mechanic, 22; Baba Abass, alias Online, 18; Abugri Osman, student,18; and Joe Ofori, a second-hand clothes dealer, 35.

The two others who were apprehended for buying the booty of the suspected robbers were Yunus Abdil Hamid Mubarak, a fashion designer, 24 and Ahmed Hamidu, a conductor, 24.

Items retrieved from the suspects included a pump action gun, 17 live catridges, a face mask, three galaxy Sumsung S4 phones, a Nokia phone and a laptop.

Assaulting victims

Briefing journalists on the arrests yesterday, the Accra Regional Police Commander, Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, said the suspects were known to have been assaulting their victims after robbing them at gun point.

Mr Yohuno said one of the gang members usually led the group by spying “and then prompts the others to move in”.

He said they used cement blocks or heavy substances to forcibly break the doors of their victims in order to gain access.

He said the victims included a former University of Ghana lecturer, a Nigerian businessman, a pharmaceutical company and a student who were injured and are currently receiving treatment.

Notable cases

He said at about 1a.m. on December 12, 2014, a Nigerian businessman living at East Legon was attacked by the robbers.

After looting his residence, the robbers shot him in the right side of his chest.

“Fortunately, he survived the gunshot and reported the case to the police. He is still responding to treatment”.

On that same day, the robbers, he said, attacked and robbed a former lecturer of the University of Ghana who lived in the same vicinity.

They made away with $2,000, GH¢7,000 and some items, including two phones, a driver’s licence and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

On January 5, 2015, the same gang was said to have gone to a pharmaceutical company at Atraco and made away with GH¢27,000, three mobile phones and an Ipad.

Through police investigations, it was found that the robbers had sold the phones to Mubarak, who led police to arrest Hamidu.