Court remands two over attempted robbery

Two suspects Titus Nwafo and Onekachi Nmeagbe have been remanded by an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly attempting to embark on a robbery expedition.

Nwafo, 24, a phone repairer and Nmeagbe, 19, food vendor denied the charges of conspiracy to commit crime and an attempt to commit crime.

They will make their next appearance on June 1, 2020.

One of the accomplices, Obina is currently on the run whilst three others were gunned down in a crossfire during their arrest.

Police Chief Inspector Gulliver Kwabena Tenkorang told the Court presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah that the complainants are police officers from the Charlie SWAT Unit of the Accra Regional Police Command.

He said Nwafo lived at Kwame Nkrumah Circle whiles Nmeagbe resides at Alajo in Accra and are all Nigerians.

The Prosecution said on the night August 17, 2019, the police acting on intelligence that the two and others had planned to rob a house at Tema in the Greater Accra Region trailed Nwafo and Nmeagbe and arrested them whilst tailing two of their victims.

Chief Inspector Tenkorang said the Police found facemasks and a jackknife on them when a search was conducted upon their arrest.

Prosecution said Okoro, now deceased and the gang leader, who was loitering around the Kaiser Flats, monitoring and directing the robbery operation was also arrested with one locally-made pistol loaded with four live cartridges in his custody.

Chief Inspector Tenkorang said two others who had also entered the target’s house and had taken cover scaled the wall, when the police attempted to arrest them and rather opened fire on Police of which they returned it leading to their death.

He said upon interrogation, Okoro admitted that they were in the area to rob, adding that they had a cutter and other offensive weapons which he had hidden in the area.

The prosecution said Okoro agreed to lead police to retrieve the said weapons but on their way he started running away, the police pursued him, and in the course of the pursuit they heard gunshots from the direction the suspect was heading towards, so the police fired back whereby the suspect was caught in the crossfire.

Prosecution said the team called for reinforcement and together, they combed the area and found Okoro injured but died when being conveyed to the hospital for treatment.

He said Nwafo and Nmeagbe admitted the offense in their cautioned statements and mentioned Obina, as the one who recruited them to join Okoro for the robbery.

The two also confessed knowing Okoro and Obina as notorious robbers who operates within the country.