Two soldiers before court for extortion

Cape Coast, Sept. 27, GNA - Two soldiers who allegedly arrested and extorted 30 Ghana cedis from a 'banker to banker' operator and another man at Gomoa Ankamu in the Central Region, appeared before a Cape Coast Circuit Court on Wednesday.

Frank Sapper Adablah of 48 Engineer Regiment at Teshie and Samuel Fofie of 64 Infantry Regiment at Burma Camp pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to extort and extortion.

They were granted 2,000 Ghana cedis bail each to re-appear on Wednesday, October 10.

The court issued bench warrants for the arrest of three policemen, General Constables Solomon Twum-Mensah and Raymond Adjei of National Police Training Academy and Detective Corporal Emmanuel Danso of Police Headquarters, accomplices of the accused persons. They were released to their various unit commanders after their arrests, but failed to turn up in court.

Prosecuting, Police Superintendent Cyril Ackom, said on January 24 this year, the two soldiers and their accomplices executed a plan in Accra to extort money from 'banker to banker' operators in communities along the main Accra-Cape Coast Highway.

He said they hired a 207 Benz bus with registration number ER 4518 X driven by one Agyemang for 35 Ghana cedis for their 'operation'. The prosecution said they drove to Gomoa-Ankamu, where they spotted Kofi Attah, one of the complainants in his lotto kiosk and arrested him for allegedly operating illegal 'banker to banker, seized his lotto books and forced him into their waiting vehicle.

He said another complainant Yaw Tweku, a driver who intervened and queried the five security men as to why they had arrested the lotto operator, was also arrested and forced into the bus, which sped off towards Mankessim.

Police Superintendent Ackom said when the accused persons and their accomplices reached Akotsi-Junction about 18 kilometres from Gomoa-Ankamu, they extorted the money from their two 'hostages', drove them from the bus and left them in the middle of the road and sped off to Mankessim.

He said some people in the area, came to the aid of the two men and provided them with a taxi, with which they chased the bus to Mankessim where Adablah, Fofie, Adjei, and Twum-Mensah were arrested, but Danso managed to escape and was later arrested.