Police kill two robbers at Teshie-Tsuibleoo

Two armed robbers have been shot dead at Teshie-Tsuibleoo, a suburb of Accra, by a police patrol team from the Regional Headquarters at dawn of Wednesday October 6. Two others, however, managed to escape.

This brings to four the total number of armed robbers who have been shot and killed between the months of September and October 2010.

The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Rose Bio Atinga, told newsmen yesterday, that the patrol team received signals from the police information room while on their usual night duties, hinting them of a robbery spree at Teshie Tsuibleoo.

On their way, the police patrol team came across an Opel Astra taxi cab with registration number GR 301 - 10. The occupants of the vehicle failed to stop when the patrol team ordered them to, and sped off.

DCOP Atinga noted that when they were being pursued, they opened fire on the police personnel, who in turn, shot one of them, killing him on the spot, while another, Nalendi, sustained serious injuries.

A police report indicated that Nalendi died on his way to the hospital, but before his death, he mentioned the name of the other deceased as Ayitey Titso.

The deceased also told the police that they were four on board the taxi, and that the other two managed to escape, giving one of the names as Obodai.

DCOP Atinga, however, believed that the two escapees were also shot at, and so all hospitals and clinics, she advised, should be on the alert to report suspicious characters who visit their facilities for treatment.

A locally manufactured pistol, which was used to shoot at the police, was found in the taxi cab.

On another attempted robbery case at Akim Oda in the Eastern Region, DCOP Atinga narrated that on September 30, 2010, her outfit received information that some workers of Naatoa Telecom Systems, a local agent for MTN in the area, had come to Accra to recruit some armed robbers to rob their company.

The Sales Manager at Akim Oda, Jacob Kwasi Sieh, 27, was mentioned as the brain behind the recruitment of the armed robbers.

According to the police boss, Sieh succeeded in recruiting two people, and gave them an amount of GH¢9OO to be used for the hiring of a vehicle and weapons for their intended operation.

Sieh further sketched a plan of the office where the company's money was being kept, to facilitate their movements.

She said some two persons (identities withheld) expressed interest in the gig, and later reported the matter to the police.

DCOP Atinga continued that some detectives were dispatched by the Accra Regional Police Command, alongside the supposed recruited robbers on October 2, to Akim Oda.

On arrival, the group was met by one Lord Appiah Frimpong, a Customer Care Manager, who took them to the said office for the operation. He is currently on admission at hospital.

On seeing the supposed robbers from Accra, suspects Emmanuel Koomson, 27, the District Manager, who was part of the master plan, and Sieh, intentionally gave in to the robbery attack, and pointed out the safe to their assailants.

The police detectives, who posed as the recruited armed robbers, took possession of the money, which was GH¢42,700, and kept in the safe.

It was then that Sieh and Koomson realised they were rather dealing with the police, and not the armed robbers, and they were arrested.

DCOP Atinga noted that upon interrogation, they confessed to committing the crime to cover up for a shortage they had recorded in their sales.

The armed robbers were offered GH¢10,000 (¢100 million).

The company's KIA Picanto saloon car with registration number GT 7761 Z was also impounded by the police.

Two cellotapes, which were to be used to tie them up in the process, were also retrieved.