Four men accused of stealing 51 million cedis

Four men accused of stealing 51 million cedis from a Madina forex bureau have been remanded in prison custody by an Accra Circuit Tribunal on Wednesday.

They are John Obanor, a 33-year-old Nigerian taxi driver stationed at Saint Johns GPRTU branch in Accra; Raymond Paul Kwabena Frimpong, 33, a Ghanaian building technician who lives at Tantra Hills, near Achimota; Paul Onus Ashaka, a 28-year-old unemployed Nigerian with no fixed abode; and Mohammed Abubakari, a 73-year-old Ghanaian painter residing at Alogboshi near Achimota.

Their plea were not taken and they will reappear on November 8. Chief Inspector Edward Antwi told the tribunal, chaired by Mr. Ziblim Moru, that on October 16 at about 1:45 p.m., Obanor, Frimpong, Ashaka and two other Nigerian suspects, now at large, attacked a cashier at AL-MAL forex bureau at Madina with locally manufactured pistols. They stole cash totaling 51 million cedis, in local and foreign currencies, and then fled in a waiting Opel Cadet taxicab with registration number GR 8270 R.

Issaka, however telephoned his managing director and then alerted the police. The police later arrested the robbers as they were sharing the booty. Chief Inspector Antwi said police found a cache of 7.5 million cedis, one US dollar, five pounds sterling, and 20,000 CFA.

The prosecutor said Obanor, Frimpong and Ashaka admitted committing a series of robberies in the Accra Metropolis. They named Pius Ogoro, alias Paapa, and Eze Obi, both Nigerians, who are at large, as accomplices.