6 suspected armed robbers remanded into custody

Six suspected armed robbers, including a soldier, arrested by the Sunyani Police Patrol Team at the Yawhima Police barrier, were on Friday remanded into prison custody by a Magistrate’s Court in Sunyani.

Their plea of robbery and conspiracy to commit crime were not taken and are to reappear on March 13, 2015.

Police Inspector Beatrice Korser, Prosecutor, told the court, presided by Mr Fred Obikyere, that on Thursday, January 26, 2015, the police upon a tip off arrested the robbers in a taxi cab at 0300 hours on their return from an operation at Wenchi.

The suspects are Sheriff Adams, also known as Alhaji Fresh, 31, Staff Sargeant Alhassan Hamid, 42, who is in active military service at the Three Garrison in Sunyani, Osei Kufuor, 32, Kwadwo Francis, 35, Esmund Bawuah, 27 and Kwabena Yeboah, 32.

Inspector Korsor said the robbers went to the Wenchi branch of the Brong-Ahafo Catholic Co-operative Society for Development, tied the watchman up, entered the premises and stole money and some items and they later dumped the watchman on the outskirts of the town.

She said an unspecified amount of money, four mobile phones, two pistols, knives, a crow bar, a military uniform, cartridges and other offensive weapons were found on them.

Prosecutor said Hamid and Francis were also identified by another victim, Tunguri Abu, an Ivorian, who they robbed when he arrived in Kumasi on Tuesday, February 24, 2015.

They robbed Abu of a suitcase containing a laptop computer, an Ipad, a Samsung galaxy phone note 5, an I-phone 4, a Nokia mobile phone, a sonny Ericsson mobile phone, a passport and a cash of 1.5 million CFA Francs.

She said Adams and four others, on June 13, 2014, robbed Tonket Limited, a Nestle products distribution company in Sunyani and nearly killed the company’s accountant.

The prosecutor said the five were arrested and remanded into prison custody for sometime but were granted bail by a circuit court at Fiapre, near Sunyani.

She said according to Arhin, the group, after their bail, also robbed some financial companies in the Brong Ahafo Region, including the Derma Rural Bank, the Sunyani Agency and the Bechem Agency of the Bomaa Rural Bank.