Two remanded for possessing firearms

One Benjamin Danso, and his accomplice, Daniel Dzaglah- Dzigbodi were on Friday arraigned at an Accra Circuit Court for possession of firearms and ammunition, without lawful authority and preparation to commit crime to wit robbery.

The two were said to have in their possession one AK47 riffle, one foreign pistol, one locally made double barreled pistol, one AK47 magazine with 19 rounds of ammunition, to commit crime.

They both pleaded not guilty to the offences, and were remanded by the court into prison custody to re-appear on June 24. Prosecuting, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Cynthia Andason, said the complainants are personnel of the Volta Regional Police Visibility Unit, stationed at Ho, while Benjamin is a second-hand clothes dealer at Aflao, Daniel, a Kentey weaver at Agortmeli Kpetoe, and one Bright now at large, alleged to be a driver.

She said on June 2, at about 0200 hours, police personnel on patrols within the Ho municipality gathered intelligence that the three accused persons armed with guns around the Ho main lorry station, were preparing to embark on a robbery escapade within the municipality.

She said the police personnel headed towards the station, but the three accused persons on spotting the police took to their heels, but were pursued and Benjamin was arrested.

The prosecution said when he was searched, the police retrieved one well-serviced AK47 riffle without its magazines wrapped with cement paper, one foreign pistol, one locally made doubled barreled pistol, all concealed in a black bag in his possession.

ASP Andason said Benjamin mentioned Daniel as the owner of the AK47 riffle. According to Benjamin, the three of them hatched a plan at Agortime-Kpetoe on June 2, to rob in a particular house within the Ho municipality, but on their way to the target, they met the police and he was arrested, while Daniel fled with the magazine of the AK47 riffle.

She said on June 8, Benjamin led the police to the house of Daniel at Agortime-Kpetoe and he was also arrested. The prosecution told the court that during interrogation Daniel stated that, he and one Kwashie at Kevi, a village in Togo stole the AK47 riffle from the Togolese police at post at the Kevi boarder in October 2011, on their way back to Kpetoe from a smuggling expedition when they met the policemen fast asleep.

According to Daniel on the day of the arrest, he was in possession of the magazine containing 19 rounds of ammunition, but managed to escape from the police and went to hide it under a cemented platform of a shed in the market at Ho-Asegame and led the police to retrieve it.

She said, Daniel however, denied ownership of the two pistols, and stressed that they were provided by his accomplice