18-year-old driver granted bail for robbery

Mamponteng (Ash), March 5, GNA - An 18-year-old taxi driver, who in a company of three others allegedly robbed a fellow taxi driver of his money and items, valued at 2.4 million cedis in December last year, has been granted three million cedis bail by the Mamponteng District Court. Kamiru Salifu had pleaded guilty to a charge of stealing on his first appearance in January this year, but upon hearing the facts of the case, the presiding judge ordered the police to change the charge from stealing to robbery.

Consequently, the court has forwarded the docket to the Attorney General's office for advice.

Salifu was granted bail at the instance of the prosecutor, who pleaded with the court to grant the bail whilst they wait for the Attorney General's advice so as to enable the accused to cooperate with the police in arresting the three accomplices who are on the run. He is to re-appear on March 10.

Police Inspector Ben Apuriyure told the court presided over by Mr Uuter P. Dery, a circuit court judge sitting as an additional magistrate that in December last year, one Owusu Afriyie, the complainant was driving from Kwadaso to Kejetia when the alleged robbers signalled him to stop and take them to Medoma, near Mamponteng in the Kwabre District to visit a friend.

Inspector Apuriyure said no sooner had the complainant reached his destination than one of the robbers allegedly ordered him to stop and subsequently pushed him out of the vehicle at knifepoint. He told the court that the robbers then took away a cash of 650,000 cedis, one Nokia cell phone, a pair of shoes, wrist watch, a tape recorder and a number of cassettes valued at 2.4 million cedis from the driver.

The prosecutor said a report was made to the police, who arrested the suspect at Sofoline in Kumasi and after investigations charged him for stealing.