Security officer kills cabbie

A 28-YEAR-OLD private security officer attached to the Pioneer Food Company in Tema, is cooling off his feet in the cells of the Tema Regional Police Command for allegedly killing and robbing a taxi driver on the Cemetery Road near Bankuman, a suburb of Tema New-Town.

The suspect, Francis Akpanya Sackey, who was arrested by the Tema Regional police patrol team, allegedly attacked and killed the driver, identified as Edward Jojo Acquah, a 28-year-old and former student of Data Link University College and IPMC. He allegedly collected his Honda Civic taxi cab with registration number GE 3532 X.

After the purported robbery, the private security officer allegedly replaced the original number plate of the vehicle with another registration number – GT 8733 Q.

Despite this, he was identified and arrested before he could get away. Police have since detained the suspect to assist in investigations, while the body of the deceased has been deposited at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital mortuary in Accra, pending Autopsy.

Items such as a locally manufactured pistol, two live cartridges, a sharp knife, a BBL multimedia subwoofer system, a portable DVD player, two military camouflage shorts and two screw drivers, were retrieved from the suspect.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mathew Appiagyei, the Second-in-Command at the Tema Regional Police Command, told DAILY GUIDE that on October 1, 2014 at about 2:00 am, the patrol team intercepted a yellow and ash Honda Civic taxi Cab with registration number GT 8733 Q at the Kpone Junction.

He stated that when police conducted a routine check on the vehicle, they noticed that the car had a number plate in front while the rear plate was not there. He said the police immediately suspected that the car was a stolen one, adding that a further search revealed the various items already mentioned above.

The suspect, he said, was interrogated as to how he came by the items, and what he intended using them for; but he could not give any tangible reason. He was subsequently arrested and taken to the Tema Regional CID for further questioning.

ACP Appiagyei noted that the next day at about 7:00 am, police received information that a dead body had been found on the Cemetery Road.

He explained that police rushed to the scene and found the lifeless body. When a search was conducted on the body, a driver’s licence, two Zenith Bank ATM cards and a Data Link University ID card bearing the name, Edward Jojo Acquah, were found on him.

A witness in the case, whose name was given as Snita Aklamanu, was said to have reported at the police station and identified the Honda Civic taxi cab as hers and the deceased as the driver she employed to drive her car.

The witness stated that the original car number was GE 3532 X and not the number plate that was on the cab at the time of the arrest.

The suspect has, however, denied the offence of murder and robbery, claiming that the taxi was given to him by his friend on the day of the arrest. But he had failed to lead police to the said friend.