A notorious gang leader who has been on the Kasoa Police wanted list for his alleged engagement in series of robberies and the murder of a footballer has eventually been arrested.

The suspect, Nii Yartey, was arrested from his hideout at a suburb of Kasoa in the Central Region, following police intelligence.

Among the items retrieved from the suspect were a pump action gun, two locally manufactured pistols and four machetes. It is suspected that the weapons are what Yartey and his two accomplices who are at large use for their robbery operations.

Brief

The Kasoa District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police Mr Stephen Ahiatafu, said Yartey, 26, and his two accomplices were declared wanted after engaging in a robbery spree in some parts of Kasoa, including Peace Town and Kasoa CP.

Among victims of their robbery operations is 27-year-old Abubarkar Sadiq Adam, a contestant in the last edition of MTN Football Challenge, who was shot and killed at his residence at Peace Town, near Kasoa.

He said at about 4 a.m. on June 10, 2017, the police received distress calls from some residents in some parts of Kasoa that three masked armed men were attacking residents from house to house.

Mr Ahiatafu said the suspects, who were wielding a pump action gun, pistols and machetes, initially attacked some residents of Kasoa CP.

They made away with Samsung TV sets, mobile phones and GH¢3,000 from one of the victims.

When the police got to the scene around 6:40 a.m., Mr Ahiatafu said the body of the deceased footballer was found in a pool of blood.

The body has since been taken to the Police Hospital mortuary, in Accra, for preservation.

Claim

Nii Yartey, the suspect Yartey told the police that Adam was praying when the gang stormed his room. He claimed that the deceased seized a gun from the gang and refused to hand it back to them.

The suspect further alleged that the recalcitrance of the deceased compelled him to shoot him.

The police discovered that the footballer was shot in the abdomen at close range.