By Felix Engsalige Nyaaba
Two of the AK 47 rifles
retrieved from the four notorious armed robbers who robbed the Madina Ecobank of
GHC60, 046.00 and also killed a policeman in 2008, were last Friday tendered in
evidence before the Accra Fast Track High Court presided over by Mr. Justice
Charles Quist.
Chief Inspector John
Acquah, the police officer at the Accra Region Police investigation the crime, tendered the
two AK 47 rifles with number
AL 2901 and AK29100 and others
harmful weapons including jack-knives, scissors
, pliers and mobile phones all been items retrieved from the robbers.
Led in evidence as a
prosecution witness, Mr. Acquah said, one of the two guns was retrieved from Kofi
Afoakwah, a.k.a Not Nice and Fatao who died during an exchange of gun fire with
the police in a robbery operation at Tema.
He told the Court that
the AK 47 with number AK29100 retrieved
from the deceased Fatao happened to be the one the robbers took from the policeman at Madina Ecobank after killing him.
The witness also tendered
caution statements he took from the accused persons before they were charged
and brought to court to face the law for the offence
The four armed robbers
standing are, Kofi
Afoakwah,a.k.a Not Nice, Yaw Afoakwah, a.k.a Dadesen, Kingsley
Lawani,a.k.a Benin Boy, and Richard Kafui Quist
,o.k., Lion.
Their accomplice, Fatao
and Dotse Babanawo , who killed the policeman at Madina Ecobank died during
another robbery expedition at Tema , while another known as Awudu is still on the run.
The four robbers who
have since been remanded in custody pleaded not guilty to seven counts of
conspiracy to commit crime of robbery and robbery contrary to the criminal
offence Act 1960 of (Act 29).
The prosecution case is
that, on June 21, 2008 at about 9.00am, one Fatao, who is now decease passed by
the Madina Branch of the Ecobank and saw a bullion van discharging monies into
the Bank, so he stood there watched and left to inform a colleague, called Awudu.
Mr. Rexford Wiredu, a
principal state Attorney said, the following day, June 22, 2008, Fatao and
Awudu went to the bank premises and waited for the bullion van and when the van
arrived at about 9.00am, they left and quickly went and informed the accused
persons and they all agreed to rob the bank.
According to the
prosecutor, on June 23, 2008 the accused persons and their accomplice met in an
uncompleted building at East Legon to strategies on the operation and after
that they asked the 2nd accused to position himself at a vantage
point near the bank to monitor the movement of the bullion van and to alert
them to start the operation.
He said, the accused
and their accomplice snatched a taxi at a gun point and drove to Madina and 10 meters
to the Bank, the 2nd accused person alighted, whilst the others
proceeded to the bank premises and positioned themselves waiting for signal
from the 2nd accused.
At about 8:30 am the 2nd
accused spotted the bullion van
approaching the bank, so he quickly
telephone Dropam who is now decease and he in turn informed the other accused persons that the van was
approaching the bank.
He noted that, the 1st
accused and Awudu went to the entrance of the bank and engaged in conversation
with the policeman on duty and soon after the bullion van arrived at the bank
premises and parked, Dropam (decease) quickly moved to the other policeman who
accompanied the van and ordered him to surrender his rifle but the police
officer resisted.
But Dropam (decease)
who was holding AK 47 rifle fired gunshot and the bullet hit the policeman who
accompanied the bullion van and he bled profusely and died on the way when he
was rushed to Hospital.
He explained that, the accused
persons and their accomplice pulled a pistol on the policeman on duty and
collected his AK 47 rifle with 10 rounds of ammunitions from him and also broke
into the bullion van and collected the sum of GHC60, 046.00 into a waiting taxi
cab and drove off.
The State prosecutor
further stated that, the 1st accused person also drove another taxi
and picks the 2nd accused at Madina Zongo junction and they drove
off to an uncompleted house at East Legon and shared the booty as well as the two
AK 47 rifles they took from the policemen.
According to Mr.
Wiredu, on December 11, 2008 at about 1: am the accused persons went for
another robbery at Tema and in the courses of the robbery Fatao was killed and
the AK 47 they took from the Madina Ecobank operation was also retrieved from
him, whilst his accomplice managed to escaped.
He said, again on
October 27, 2009 at about 11: 30 am , 1st , 2nd , 3rd
and Awudu now at large and their
accomplices attacked Anti’s Company Limited at Agbogba a suburb of Accra and in
that robbery 1st accused
received gunshot wounds from the police whilst AK 47 rifle was
collected from another policeman.
The prosecutor noted
that, the 2nd accused person took the injured 1st accused
person to Government Hospital at Obuasi in the Ashanti region for treatment but
the doctor referred him to Okomfo Anokye Hospital for further treatment.
Mr. Wiredu further
explained that, the police on November 4, 2009, had information of an AK 47
rifle being kept in a house at Agbogba and quickly moved in.
He said when the house
was searched, the AK 47 was found and the police mounted 24 hour surveillance
on the house and some hours later, one Ama Sikabiley and her brother Leonard
Sikabiley came to the house and they were arrested.
That, the two siblings
later led police to Okomfo Anokye Hospital at Kumasi where the 1st
accused was arrested and placed on guard and when the 2nd accused
person came to visit him he was also arrested.
He said, during
interrogation the two admitted their involvement in various robberies in Accra,
Tema, Kumasi and Mape Rural bank.
That the two later led
police to arrest 3rd and 4th accused persons and after
investigation they are charged for the offence and brought to the court.
The case has been
adjourned to May 28, this year for cross examination by the accused person’s
lawyer.
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