Eight highway robbers, seven of them Nigerians, have been arrested after attacking and robbing vehicles of passengers on the Mankessim-Accra road on Tuesday. One of them, now deceased, exchanged fire with the police earlier. His body has been deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary. Two others are in the hospital as a result of their wounds. The remaining five, including the only Ghanaian, are in police custody pending further investigations. The robbers are between 25 and 27 years.
Police Commissioner in Charge of Operations, Dr. K. K. Manfo, told newsmen that at about 9am on Tuesday, they had information that there has been a highway robbery on the Accra-Mankessim road during which passengers were assaulted after being robbed of unspecified amounts of money.
Consequently, five vehicles with 30 policemen were dispatched from Accra to help the Central Regional Police command to arrest the robbers. By the time the Police Highway Patrol unit got there, the inhabitants of a town nearby had arrested one of them. They had also shot and wounded the leader of the gang. The inhabitants and the police searched both day and night on Tuesday, and managed to arrest the other members of the gang.
One of the suspects told the police that the leader, with the promise to give them work in Ghana, recruited them in Nigeria. They were subsequently taken to the spot of the robbery and briefed on the task ahead. After the briefing, they cut a tree to block the road and started their operation.
Eight highway robbers, seven of them Nigerians, have been arrested after attacking and robbing vehicles of passengers on the Mankessim-Accra road on Tuesday. One of them, now deceased, exchanged fire with the police earlier. His body has been deposited at the Police Hospital mortuary. Two others are in the hospital as a result of their wounds. The remaining five, including the only Ghanaian, are in police custody pending further investigations. The robbers are between 25 and 27 years.
Police Commissioner in Charge of Operations, Dr. K. K. Manfo, told newsmen that at about 9am on Tuesday, they had information that there has been a highway robbery on the Accra-Mankessim road during which passengers were assaulted after being robbed of unspecified amounts of money.
Consequently, five vehicles with 30 policemen were dispatched from Accra to help the Central Regional Police command to arrest the robbers. By the time the Police Highway Patrol unit got there, the inhabitants of a town nearby had arrested one of them. They had also shot and wounded the leader of the gang. The inhabitants and the police searched both day and night on Tuesday, and managed to arrest the other members of the gang.
One of the suspects told the police that the leader, with the promise to give them work in Ghana, recruited them in Nigeria. They were subsequently taken to the spot of the robbery and briefed on the task ahead. After the briefing, they cut a tree to block the road and started their operation.
